SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jose Ortiz, one of the top jockeys on the planet, can't be on two horses at once.When a quandary pops up–like it did before the GI, $1-million Whitney Stakes–Ortiz defers to Steve Rushing, his high-powered agent, to make the call.The decision they had to make was which horse to ride in the Whitney, the race that could very well be the best of the 46-day meet.Magnitude (Not This Time), the leader of the older horse division, or Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro), the fabulous filly. Ortiz is the regular rider of both.“Absolutely, one of the toughest decisions we had to make,” Rushing said on the Saratoga backstretch Friday morning.Rushing has been Ortiz's agent for the last four years. He also represents his brother, Irad. They have been together 14 years.Whenever a tough call comes up, the brothers bow to Rushing to make it.“Steve makes the decision,” Jose Ortiz said earlier in the meet. “I pay him 25 percent. That's his job. He doesn't tell me how to ride; I don't tell him how to be an agent.”Rushing doesn't put names in a hat and pick one. It's a long, thought-out process. Rushing and Jose had discussions.Magnitude, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the Whitney. He has won all three of his starts this year, all of them stakes and two of them (Dubai World Cup and Stephen Foster) Grade Is.Nitrogen, last year's champion 3-year-old filly trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, has won two of four this year, the latest being a 12 3/4-length romp in the GI Ogden Phipps at Saratoga on June 5.Decisions, decisions.“Originally, we thought the filly was going to run against fillies,” Rushing said. “Really, a tough decision. All the races that Nitrogen has won and, obviously, Magnitude has won those major races.”Rushing said it was one of the hardest calls he has ever had to make.“I can't imagine it getting any tougher than this,” Rushing said. “That was the thing: how can you split these two horses?”Casse Not Nervous as Nitrogen Takes on the BoysThe prestigious GI, $1-million Whitney Stakes has been run since 1928.When it's run for the 98th time on Saturday, the fabulously fast 4-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) will attempt to become the first female horse to win it since Personal Ensign in 1988. Only four other fillies have won it, all of them before 1950.Nitrogen | Sarah AndrewThe last filly to run in the Whitney was Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who was fourth in a field of five in 2021.Believe this, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has been reminded of all of that for the last month. And now, here we are. Nitrogen's date with the big boys of the division has arrived.Casse nervous? Not a bit.“You know when you get nervous? You get nervous when you feel like you haven't done all you can do,” Casse said on the Saratoga backstretch Friday morning. “You get nervous when your horse is not training as good as they should be.”Both those boxes have been checked. Going into the biggest race of her life, Nitrogen could not be doing any better. Last year's Eclipse Award winner for 3-year-old filly has won eight of 16 career starts.In her last one, she demolished five other fillies in the GI Ogden Phipps by 12 3/4 lengths.Bring on the colts.“We don't know how her talent level will be with the colts,” Casse said. “I do know this: there might be horses training as good as she, but there are none that are training any better. I am going into this with confidence, but there is definitely an unknown. She is going to be in a fight.”Casse could have kept Nitrogen, owned by D J Stable, LLC with her own kind and she would have been an overwhelming favorite in the GI, $500,000 Personal Ensign on Travers Day.“There were easier paths for me to take,” he said. “Look, I have been wrong many, many, many times, but I think she belongs, and I think when the dust clears, she is going to be right there.”Oh, By the Way, Antiquarian is in the Whitney, tooThe talk of the GI, $1-million Whitney Stakes is Magnitude (Not This Time). Or is it Sovereignty (Into Mischief). How about Baeza (McKinzie) and White Abarrio (Race Day)? Don't forget the filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro).Antiquarian | Sarah AndrewWay down on the depth chart of Whitney runners is Antiquarian (Preservationist). The colt, owned by Centennial Farm, comes into the 1 1/8-mile Whitney virtually ignored and how do you ignore a horse that has been competitive in eight of his 13 career starts (five wins, three seconds)?Antiquarian has one win from three starts this year, that coming in the GIII Westchester Stakes. In his last start, the GII Suburban, his race was over before it started when he stumbled badly coming out of the gate and finished a distant fourth as the favorite.“He tried hard, like he always does, but it was kind of an impossible scenario for him after the start,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said at his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track.When shopping for Antiquarian's next spot, Pletcher and Don Little, Jr., the president and co-owner of Centennial Farms, huddled and came up with the Whitney. They know it's a tough spot, but there wasn't much else.The GI, $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 23 was ruled out because Antiquarian didn't like that surface when he was in California last year for the Breeders' Cup. And Pletcher wasn't too crazy about the three-turn, GII, $1-million Charles Town Classic on Aug. 28.So, here he is.“I think he deserves a shot,” Little said. “He has been training well, and you can make excuses in his last two races even though I don't like making excuses. I put it in Todd's hands.”Antiquarian is 10-1 on the Whitney morning line and gets a new rider in Manny Franco, who won five straight races and a total of six on Friday's card. He replaces Hall of Famer Johnny Velazquez, who is riding Nitrogen in the Whitney.Last year, Antiquarian won the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, but that race was remembered more for jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. being unseated while riding Mindframe (Constitution), the second choice in the wagering, shortly after the gates opened.“He won that race and ran terrific but because everything that happened, it was not really the story,” Pletcher said. “He did not get the recognition for that win. Yeah, it's unfair, it was not his fault. Maybe he can make some noise this weekend.”The post Saratoga Notebook, presented by NYRA Bets: Ortiz Puts Trust in Rushing to Make the Big Decisions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.