He won his first Breeders' Cup race on Lady Eli in 2014, and his first American Classic on Creator in the 2016 Belmont Stakes.

In 2019, Ortiz repeated the Eclipse Award by leading in both wins and second places, as well as establishing a single-year earnings record for North American horse racing of $34,109,019.

[3] Growing up, one of his idols was Ángel Cordero Jr., the first Puerto Rican jockey to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

[4] At age 16, Ortiz enrolled in Puerto Rico's Escuela Vocacional Hípica, a school for prospective jockeys.

[5] Ortiz began his professional riding career at Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico on New Year's Day, 2011, winning 76 of 357 starts over the following months.

[7] In June 2012, Ortiz got his big break when trainer Kiaran McLaughlin put him on the filly Questing in an allowance race.

[1] He finished second in the Eclipse Award voting for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey; his loss may have been due to spending the majority of the year as a journeyman rider.

[3] In 2014, Ortiz won 15 graded stakes including his first victory at the Breeders' Cup in the Juvenile Fillies Turf aboard Lady Eli.

[1] In 2020, Ortiz earned his third consecutive Eclipse Award, with highlights including a win in the Breeders' Cup Sprint with Whitmore.

[1] On June 3, 2021, he was hospitalized after he was thrown when his mount stumbled in a maiden race at Belmont Park after moving to the lead.

[18] In 2025, at Tampa Bay Downs's Pasco Stakes, DRF reported that the stewards imposed a three racing days suspension, January 19, 22, and 23 upon Ortiz Jr. who was found guilty of foul riding.

It disqualified his mount Owen Almighty from his one-length victory in obstructing Rookie Card's path near the three-eighths pole.