Dodgers pitcher, horse racing jockeys linked to cockfighting in Puerto Rico
A Los Angeles Dodger pitcher and two top horse racing jockeys are allegedly linked to cockfighting in Puerto Rico through social media posts, according to a report by USA Today.
The article, published Thursday, highlights social media posts promoting cockfighting contests featuring three-time All-Star Edwin Díaz in his Dodgers uniform and an article in El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper, that quotes Díaz.
Brothers and jockeys Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz, who finished first and second, respectively, in the Kentucky Derby this month have been advertised as participants in the 2025 cockfighting competition, according to the outlet.
Representatives for Díaz and the Ortiz brothers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Diaz and the Ortiz brothers were born in Puerto Rico where cockfighting has been a long-standing tradition, a major industry and a source of tension between the US territory and the federal government.
In 2019, a federal law banning cockfighting went into effect in Puerto Rico. Before the law, blood sport was illegal in all 50 states, but not in US territories. Many Puerto Ricans saw the ban as an attack on their culture and vowed to defy the law.
Puerto Rico responded by passing a law that makes it legal to host cockfights as long as people do not export or import the animals or any goods or services related to cockfighting. The US Supreme Court in 2021 refused to hear a challenge to the federal law brought by a group that argued that Congress exceeded its powers by implementing the ban in Puerto Rico.
In an article in El Nuevo Día, published in March, Díaz was quoted talking about cockfighting, saying it was a pastime he had followed since he was a child. He attended a competition where his family entered four roosters, according to the article.
“It’s legal in Puerto Rico, thank God.” Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” he said in Spanish. “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was little, something my father instilled in me.”
The Dodgers signed Díaz to a three-year, $69-million contract in December 2025. Last month, the team announced that Díaz was undergoing surgery to remove “open bodies” in his right elbow and would be out until the second half of the season.
Club Gallistico de Puerto Rico’s Facebook post on Dec. 17, 2025, captures the Ortiz brothers and lists them as participants in a cockfighting event. The document, written in Spanish, notes that the brothers do well in international horse racing, but also have a passion for cockfighting.
“Brothers Irad and José Luis Ortiz accepted the challenge of participating in the ‘Caribbean Grand Champion’ tournament with one goal: to become undisputed champions,” reads the text in Spanish.
Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming, which is charged with regulating horse racing, launched an investigation after receiving reports that Irad Ortiz and Jose Ortiz were involved in a cockfighting event, Travers Manley, the agency’s senior vice president of gaming and media relations, wrote in a statement sent to The Times. It is unclear when the investigation began.
“The investigation included a management meeting with Irad and Jose. Following the investigation, KHRG management chose not to take administrative action against them,” Manley wrote.
