Blinkers off, Smith on: Rodríguez wins Wood & Ky. Derby berth

New York

Bob Baffert and Mike Smith had a joyous reunion when Rodríguez led every step of the way to win the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on Saturday. Baffert found himself in need of a rider for the son of Authentic when Flavien Prat was not available.

Baffert went to the Hall of Fame rider. Smith had ridden Rodríguez’s sire in the early parts of his career during the 2020 year of the COVID pandemic, and that included a dramatic victory in the Haskell (G1), which was a Derby prep in that unique year for racing. Smith ended up riding Honor A. P. in the Derby.

Click here for Aqueduct entries and results.

According to Smith, Baffert used a basketball analogy when he offered Smith the mount on Rodriguez.

“ ‘I’m pulling you off the bench, man. There’s three seconds, and I need you to hit a three. I said, all right, I’ll do it, Bob. I closed my eyes, and I hit a three,” Smith explained with a chuckle.

The similarity between Rodríguez and Authentic was clear to Smith as soon as he got on the horse on the fast Aqueduct track as a light rain fell.

“He reminds me a lot of Authentic, to be honest with you. He looks at things and gets uptight. Authentic did that early on, and then all of a sudden, he grew up and got rid of all those little jitters, and he became Authentic. That’s what I’m hoping he does.

“I think taking the blinkers off helped a lot, because he needs to see. If he don’t see it behind him, he tends to maybe tighten up a bit. That’s what it felt like to me, and I would let him turn his head all the way around if he wanted to look, and then you could feel him calming down after that. I think he’s just a bit young yet.”

Rodríguez shipped to New York looking to qualify for the Kentucky Derby with 21 1/4 points already to his credit. At Aqueduct he found a field of 10 but no stablemates from the Baffert barn. Rodríguez hit the finish line 3 1/2 lengths ahead with an impressive time of 1:48.15. In doing so he added 100 points and locked up a spot in the Derby field on May 3.

Smith had little choice but to hustle Rodríguez to the lead since he was breaking from the rail as he tried to run the 1 1/8 miles for the first time. He got to the front quickly with the 9-5 favorite Captain Cook on his outside hip and maintained that position as the fractions went in 23.21, 47.44 and 1:11.25. Rodríguez extended his lead at the stretch call to four lengths and cruised to victory.

“Mike Smith told me he wanted a super live one,” Baffert said by phone from California. “He rode him beautifully. 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, so I felt really good as long as he didn’t get too worked up, he'd be good.

“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.”

Rodríguez, who is owned by the group headed by SF Racing, was the morning-line favorite but was sent off as the 7-2 second choice. For the victory, he paid $9.30, 6.20 and 5.30 across the board.

The pair of previously undefeated horses in the field finished second and third. Grande was second in his first start on the Derby trail getting 50 points and completed a $2 exacta that paid $54. Passion Rules earned 25 points for third and finished a $2 trifecta that produced a $405.00 payout.

Captain Cook upped his points total to 35 by adding 15 from his fourth-place finish in the Wood. McAfee was fifth and got 10 points to go with the five he already had.

“Anytime you win in New York, it means a lot,” Baffert said. “I have great memories of winning the Wood twice (before). 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.”

Smith, a two-time Derby winner, was excited about the performance of Rodríguez and the prospect of getting back to the run for the roses.

“He looked good, didn’t he? He really did,” he said. “The Derby is always different. There’s going to be a big crowd. He gets a little nervous. That’s why he had the earplugs. There’s a lot of growing for this horse to do, and that’s a good thing. I’m excited.

“I don’t want to say that I’m going back. Bob took me off the bench, but I just hope they keep me on.”