Rodriguez punches Kentucky Derby ticket with victory in 100th running of G2 Wood Memorial

By Brian Bohl —-

Rodriguez punches Kentucky Derby ticket with gate-to-wire victory in 100th running of G2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rodriguez surged up the rail after breaking from the inside post and took comfort in a similar position in the stretch, repelling Grande’s late bid from the outside to score an impressive front-running 3 1/2-length victory in the 100th running of Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The race, offering 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers, saw the Authentic dark bay colt secure his first career stakes win. Led by the Hall of Fame duo of trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Mike Smith, Rodriguez earned a spot for the Grade 1 Run for the Roses on May 3 at Churchill Downs, bringing his total qualifying points to 121.25.

Baffert, who saddled Authentic to victory in the 2020 Kentucky Derby, earned his third Wood Memorial victory, adding to wins with Congaree [2001] and Bob and John [2006].

“Any time you win in New York it means a lot,” Baffert said. “I have great memories of winning the Wood. It’s a very important race. Just knowing that you have a horse that looks like he’s a serious Derby contender makes it that much better. We’re all pretty excited and I’m really happy for our ownership group.”

Out of the break, Smith led Rodriguez, with blinkers off, confidently to the front from the inside post, where he led the 10-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.31 seconds, the half-mile in 47.44 and three-quarters in 1:11.25 over the main track labeled fast.

Rodriguez, the 7-2 second choice, was pressed by 9-5 favorite Captain Cook in second position under rider Manny Franco. But Rodriguez showed the form that earned him a field-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his maiden-breaking seven-length win in January at Santa Anita Park, staying undeterred out of the final turn.

Grande put in a furious bid with a sweeping move from the outside entering the top of the stretch and pressed on, but Rodriguez powered to the wire in a 1:48.15 final time to register his first stakes win. He has never finished out of the money in all five career starts, moving to 2-2-1 with the victory at the Big A on the heels of a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis in February at Santa Anita and a third-place effort in the Grade 2 San Felipe in March at the same track.

Grande, trained by fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, garnered the 50 points for finishing 1 3/4-lengths ahead of Passion Rules [25 points] for second. The Rick Dutrow, Jr.-trained pair of Captain Cook [15] and McAfee [10] netted points for fourth and fifth, respectively, while New York-bred Sand Devil, Tiger Twenty Four, Statesman, Omaha Omaha and My Mitole rounded out the order of finish. Hill Road and Bear Claw Necklace scratched.

Rodriguez, owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan, had the blinkers removed, and the tactical decision paid off.

“Mike Smith told me he wanted a super live one and I said, ‘Man, I’ve got a good one for you.’ He rode him beautifully,” Baffert said. “The horse looked great – he looked like Authentic. He won like a good horse. It was very impressive.

“His last two works were really strong here so I felt really good as long as he didn’t get too worked up, he’d be good,” he continued. “I think with taking the blinkers off, he relaxed a lot better. It was just a beautiful run and I’m just happy and blessed to have a horse like that.”

Rodriguez, bred in Kentucky by Kingswood Farm and David Egan, returned $9.30 on a $2 win bet. His victory in the Wood Memorial’s centenary edition increased his career earnings to $522,800. He will now look to become the 12th Wood Memorial winner to capture the Kentucky Derby and the first since Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

“He’d been training like he was going to do something like that,” Baffert said. “I’ve always been very high on him. He’s just had some rough trips here in California. I knew the added distance would be a big factor for him. I thought he’d love stretching out and going a mile and an eighth.”

Smith won his fourth Wood Memorial and first in 29 years, making a return trip to the winner’s circle for the race for the first time since Unbridled’s Song in 1996. He said the connections unlocked the horse’s potential and it paid off in a big way.

“I think they realized he just wants to be left alone. I could tell that warming up,” Smith said. “Every time you did something with him, he’d get uptight. That’s just it – if you get him to breathe, he’s gonna run, man, and that’s what he did today. That’s probably why he ran that 100 Beyer when he broke his maiden to be honest with you.

“Man, he was doing it and [Franco] came at me early around that turn and he picked it up with him [Captain Cook],” Smith added. “We put some separation on the field, and when I felt him do that again, I said, ‘Oh, we’re OK!’ He’s just got to be good enough, and he was. I just really thank the owners and Bob. He said, ‘I’m pulling you off the bench, man. There’s three seconds and I need you to hit a three.’ I said, ‘alright, I’ll do it, Bob.’ I closed my eyes and I hit a three [laughs].”

Jockey Dylan Davis said Grande, who won his first two starts at Gulfstream Park before graduating to a stakes appearance, made a strong account of himself against improved competition.

“He ran very nicely,” Davis said. “He broke OK. We were going nicely into the first turn but the four [My Mitole] ended up pushing the five [Sand Devil] out in front of me, I had to go a little wide because I was going to be on heels. After that, they kind of slowed down in front of me a little bit. My horse was off the bridle and I needed to get him on the bridle and get him engaged. I got him into it with a little mid-move there in the backside just to get him engaged with those frontrunners. I wanted him closer than where I was at. He was into a nice rhythm into the second turn, I was really happy with the way he was going then. The one [Rodriguez] just kind of jumped away from him. He ran well. He stepped up nicely and had to overcome a wide trip. Given the circumstances, he ran a great race, stepping up big from his two wins.”

Pletcher said he’d still like to see Grande in play to make a start in the Derby.

“I thought he ran super,” Pletcher said. “He didn’t break real well. He got shuffled around a little bit going into the first turn. Dylan said he kind of had to check off heels which forced him to go really wide. He advanced nicely down the backside while out in the middle of the track. He still got hung out pretty wide on the far turn and I think compared to the ground saved that the winner had, it was a very creditable effort.

“That’s why we were here today – to see if we belong and earn some points,” Pletcher added. “I think he proved that he does belong and got some points as well. We’ll see how he comes out of it and come up with a plan, but I thought he certainly ran well enough.”

Passion Rules, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Kendrick Carmouche [who won his 4,000th career race earlier on the card], also was making his stakes debut, taking the class jump in his fourth start.

“I had a perfect trip. I got the horse to break better,” Carmouche said. “I had him in a good position. My horse broke good. I saved ground. It took him a little longer to get started. At the quarter-pole, I think those horses got away from him. I think that was pretty much the race.”

First run in 1925, the Wood Memorial is named in honor of Eugene D. Wood, a politician and racing enthusiast who was a founder of the old Jamaica Racetrack, where the race was run until 1960.

Live racing resumes Sunday with a 10-race card that features the $125,000 Biogio’s Rose in Race 4 and the $125,000 Haynesfield in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

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