Barn Tour: Rodriguez on Bella Sofia, other Saratoga winners

Saratoga's summer meet is filled with top-notch horses, big-name trainers and big-money stakes.

Rudy Rodriguez does not often fit in that picture, but the jockey turned trainer is a big part of the Saratoga scene, regularly in the top 10 in starts – many in the claiming ranks. Last year, he cracked the top 10 in wins, and so far this meet, he stands at No. 9, with eight wins from 68 starters and an in-the-money rate of 34 percent.

"We're doing OK, you know?" Rodriguez told Horse Racing Nation Monday. "We have no complaints, horses running good, winning some races. Trying to do the best we can with the horses that we have."

Rodriguez broke into the headlines this meet when Bella Sofia upset the Test (G1) with a 4 1/4-length victory over Souper Sensational and Search Results, giving him his first Grade 1 win since 2016.

As he was feeding his horses Monday afternoon, Rodriguez gave HRN an update on his stable.

Bella Sofia debuted with an 11 1/4-length win at Belmont in May, then came in second in the listed Jersey Girl Stakes in June. After an easy allowance win, she was off to Saratoga and the Test.

"She's been training pretty good," Rodriguez said. "After the race, she don't miss a beat, thank God. So right now we just leave her alone and see what's best for her. … The owners, they tell me to nominate her for the Prioress (G2) here at Saratoga on Sept. 4. So we'll just kind of baby her the next couple of weeks and just leave her alone. Let her let her tell us what's next for her."

Tiergan. The 5-year-old son of Afleet Alex has a 7: 3-4-0 record this year and won an allowance race at Saratoga on Saturday. "We just got to keep him happy and then he will pay us," Rodriguez said. He does not have a plan for his next start.

Danny Deep Cuts. The 3-year-old Not This Time graduated on second try Aug. 5 at Saratoga. "We got a race picked out for her (at Saratoga), a nice easy race for her so she can be competitive."

Devious Mo. Third in a Saratoga claiming race on Sunday, the 3-year-old Laoban colt has two wins in eight starts this year – breaking his maiden on seventh try in March and winning a black-type New York Stallion Stakes in April. "He ran a good race," Rodriguez said. "I don't think he's going to run back here. We've got to take a look at the new book at Belmont and take it from there."

Trinni Luck. The 4-year-old daughter of Trinniberg has won two straight, the last a gate-to-wire win in an allowance optional claiming race at Saratoga on Aug. 11. "Maybe try to run her at the end of the meet again. I'm not sure yet where, but she's a nice filly. She tries hard every time she runs. So I'm just going to let her tell us what she wants to do next and take it from there."

Danny California. The 6-year-old son of Afleet Alex has an 8: 1-1-2 record this year, most recently finishing third in the black-type Evan Shipman Handicap on Aug. 11. Four days earlier, he won an allowance optional claiming race. "We've run him two times over here at Saratoga. I think we made a mistake, but he looked like he came back good and he was happy. And we may run him back at the end of the meet, on the fifth or the sixth." With 40 career starts, "he's a nice, solid horse. We're just happy to have him in the barn. And we run him like four or five times, and every time he pick up a check. He wins a couple races and a second couple of times. He likes his job. Just got to keep him happy and stay out of his way."

Asked about promising 2-year-olds, Rodriguez mentioned Doctor Jeff, a Street Boss colt who won on debut at Saratoga in July and then finished fifth in the Saratoga Special (G2). "He ran OK. I was expecting better with him. But you don't always get what you what you want, you know?"