Om N Joy © Benoit Photo
Every once in a while, a horse from a small-time barn comes along and captures the hearts of race fans. The Chosen Vron is a good example from a couple of years ago. California Chrome actually had a fan club called the ‘Chromies’ that still exist to this day. There’s another one percolating on the California racing scene that, should she win Saturday’s G1 Clement L. Hirsch, will be celebrated from Del Mar to Arcadia.
Om N Joy first caught the eyes of handicappers and race fans last year when she won five straight races, including the G3 Torrey Pines at Del Mar, her first time competing in open company. She’s the product of longtime trainer Aggie Ordonez, whose infectious personality and demeanor endear her to everyone she meets.
“I went to the grocery store and I felt someone in the next line kind of staring at me,” Ordonez says. “I walked out and as I was putting the groceries in my car I looked at him and he smiled and said, ‘Good luck this weekend.’ Only in Del Mar do you get that kind of community support where people know racing outside of the track.”
Maybe it’s because Om N Joy’s a beautiful chestnut. Maybe it’s because she’s a Cal-bred. Maybe it’s the clever name. Whatever the reason race fans have gravitated toward the horse and her conditioner, a hard-working trainer with just 18 horses at Del Mar this year. That’s a far cry from the 40-plus horses Bob Baffert, Michael McCarthy and Phil D’Amato bring to the table every summer.
“I definitely have a lot of support around me,” Ordonez says. “The warm reception that I’ve received in Southern California from fellow trainers and riders. All week long I’ve got call outs here at Del Mar on the backside. Five o’clock in the morning I’ll hear, ‘Go get ‘em this weekend, Aggie.’ It’s heartwarming.”
Om N Joy went from last to first in the four-horse G2 Santa Margarita in May at Santa Anita, her first victory since winning the G3 Torrey Pines last summer.
“I think they gift wrapped it, put a bow on top of it and handed it to me,” Ordonez notes, “which I received graciously. It was the most glorious set up for us. Everybody went for the lead and my mare was perfectly comfortable coming off the pace. Of course, I had the right rider to just be patient.”
That rider is Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux, who has been riding Om N Joy since April of 2025. He hopped on after her maiden win. She promptly won three straight Cal-bred stakes races before venturing out into open company and upsetting the Torrey Pines, beating odd-on favorite Tenma, the 2024 Del Mar Debutante and 2025 Santa Anita Oaks winner. The victory got Ordonez thinking about bigger and better things so in October she took Om N Joy back east to run in the G2 Raven Run at Keeneland.
They finished fourth that day after which Ordonez gave her star filly a six-month break before bringing her back in even deeper waters, the G1 Beholder at Santa Anita in March. She was a non-threatening third followed by a fifth in the G1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park in April behind the likes of Nitrogen.
Back home in California, Ordonez decided to try her on the turf in the Fran’s Valentine and she got trounced by Grand Slam Smile, finishing last. So, it was back on the dirt the next time out and Om N Joy came from behind to win the Santa Margarita by 3 ¾ lengths.
“It’s truly been the joy of my life,” Ordonez claims. “She has taken me to every new height I have reached in my career. I’m 58 and I’m fortunate to have been in this game for 50 years. I was eight when I was walking around the shedrow with my dad. Long enough to appreciate something special when it comes along.
“To make it better she’s owned by some fabulous people,” Ordonez continues. “Not just friends, but they feel like family. All that together has made it an incredible journey.”
Baker Stables and Scanlan Racing own the filly. Jerry and Connie Baker bred the daughter of Om who’s out of the Hard Spun mare Margie’s Minute.
“She’s gone from being a teenage girl to a young woman,” Ordonez says of Om N Joy. “She’s filled out and blossomed and become a big, strong filly.”
According to her trainer, Om N Joy knows when a race is coming up for her.
“Ninety percent of the time she’s a sweetheart,” Ordonez concedes. “But when she gets closer to her races she gets testy. I had to send a lead pony with her the past two weeks because she gets a little feisty. She’ll feel horses race by as she’s coming home and she’ll buck and wheel and fire at them. She’s a handful right now.”
That may not be good news for her opponents on Saturday.
“She nipped at me this morning,” Ordonez adds, “which is out of character for her. But that’s okay. I’ll take a couple of bruises for her to be on her game.”