Pedigree Profile: Rodriguez
The Wood Memorial winner is the third stakes winner out of his dam
Saturday’s Wood Memorial had 100 Kentucky Derby points up for grabs to the winner, and while Captain Cook went off favorite, it was Bob Baffert’s western invader Rodriguez who took the field gate to wire. He was pressed by the favorite throughout, entered the stretch full of run, and drew off late to score a comfortable 3 1/2 length victory over Grande in a final time of 1:48.15.
The Wood Memorial was Rodriguez’s fifth lifetime start and first outside of California. The son of Authentic was purchased for $485,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and is owned by a syndicate that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, and Stonestreet Stables.
After finishing second on debut to Romanesque, who would chase the highly-regarded Barnes home to finish second in the San Vicente Stakes in his next start, Rodriguez broke his maiden by seven lengths going a mile in his second start, defeating Baeza, who was second this weekend to Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby. Rodriguez faced Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull in the Robert B Lewis in his stakes debut and finished second that day, then ran third behind Journalism and Barnes in the San Felipe Stakes in his most recent start prior to the Wood Memorial.
Rodriguez is a son of Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic, who has been off to a bit of a slow start as a stallion with only one stakes winner aside from Rodriguez in his first crop so far. While he was victorious in his first three starts, including the Sham and San Felipe Stakes, Authentic was best in the late summer and fall of his three-year-old season. This may have been by design, due to the rescheduled 2020 Kentucky Derby season, but it would not be surprising if his foals need a bit of time to reach their fullest potential. As far as his foals’ ability to go a route of ground, it’s still a bit early to draw any conclusions, but according to data provided by Thoromanager, in the last 100 starts by offspring of Authentic, there have been three winners in 32 starts in a dirt route but only a single winner in 20 starts sprinting on the dirt. I always lean toward skepticism of Into Mischief and his descendants going ten furlongs (perhaps foolishly, considering the sire line has won three of the last five Kentucky Derbies, although only Mystik Dan crossed the finish line first on the first Saturday in May), but with Authentic’s two biggest wins coming at that distance, it seems possible that his offspring will have a bit more stamina than others from his sire line.
The primary appeal of Rodriguez’s pedigree, though, is the excellent production of his dam, Cayala. The daughter of Cherokee Run has produced seven winners from as many to race, including G3 Southwest Stakes winner One Liner, multiple stakes winner Provocateur, and stakes placed Roderick, all by Authentic’s sire Into Mischief. While Cherokee Run was a stakes winner at up to nine furlongs, his greatest achievement came in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and he’s a horse I generally consider to be more of a speed influence. Cayala’s foals have won at distances ranging from five to nine furlongs, with Rodriguez being her first to win at a distance greater than 8.5 furlongs (One Liner was a two-time winner at that distance, and a full sibling to One Liner named Trivista was a winner of a $5,000 claiming race going a mile and a sixteenth). One Liner was notably second in the 9.5 furlong Pimlico Special as a four-year-old, although he was weakening at the finish of that race. Roderick’s early success came sprinting, including a third-place finish in the 6.5 furlong Nyquist Stakes as a two-year-old, but he was a winner at a mile as a four-year-old. Provocateur, for his part, was best at six furlongs and only tried a distance greater than seven furlongs once (that was his debut, which came on the turf, and he beat only a single horse to the wire).
Cayala is not the only quality producer in this immediate family. She was a daughter of graded stakes placed Chasethegold, by Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold. Chasethegold was a half sister to G1 winners Daredevil and Albertus Maximus. Their dam, Race the Wild Wind, was a G1 winner and the dam of French G1 winner King Charlemagne. Other G1 winners tracing to this branch of Lowe family 4n include Frizette Stakes winner Dayoutoftheoffice (by Into Mischief) and Forego Handicap winner Here Comes Ben. The Into Mischief sire line is also responsible for stakes winner Determined Jester, a son of Practical Joke, from this family.
Rodriguez has always shown some talent and appears to be a horse who’s coming into his own at the right time, which is what you want to see from a Kentucky Derby contender. While I’m not confident he will thrive at the ten furlong distance, with some minor question marks on both sides of his pedigree, I felt the same about his sire, and the way he galloped out after the Wood Memorial helps instill confidence that the distance will not be a detriment to him in the Kentucky Derby.