It was May 23 and Tom Ryan was anxiously waiting for a phone call.
On the other side of the country, trainer Bob Baffert was putting the grade 2-winning 3-year-old colt Rodriguez through a crucial workout at Santa Anita Park. What happens would determine the son of Authentic 's status for the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1).
"I was waiting for that call that morning. It was two thumbs up and Bob was excited," said SF Racing's Ryan, the managing partner of the huge group that owns the colt. "Bob was more excited the next day and even more the day after that."
What delighted Baffert was a 1:24 4/5 seven-furlong work at Santa Anita that signaled an untimely quarter crack, which knocked the impressive Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner out of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1), is now in the rearview mirror. He followed up that work with another May 30, covering five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 at Santa Anita.
"The foot has healed up well and looks good," Baffert said. "It's not an issue. He came out of the work well and we're planning to run in the Belmont."
Bought for $485,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Rodriguez has been well regarded since he arrived at Baffert's California barn a year ago.
He broke his maiden in his second start and then moved into stakes company where he was second to stablemate and 2-year-old champion male Citizen Bull in the two-turn mile Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) and then a distant third behind Journalism in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe Stakes (G2).
Sent to New York for his final Kentucky Derby prep, Rodriguez ran the race of his life in the 1 1/8-mile Wood for the ownership group that includes SF, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.
Running without blinkers for the first time, Rodriguez and jockey Mike Smith broke from the rail and grabbed the early lead and they were never threatened after that in winning by 3 1/2 lengths.
"The longer the distance, the better it is for him," Baffert said. "He's still growing and hasn't filled out yet. He's going to get better with age like his sire."
Jockey Flavien Prat rode Rodriguez in the San Felipe then was stunned by what he saw in the Wood.
"It was unbelievable," Prat said. "He didn't run for me much, but when Bob took the blinkers off, he ran like a different horse."
The Wood gave the connections high hopes for the Kentucky Derby but it was not to be. With the wet weather leading up to the race, Rodriguez developed a small quarter crack that needed rest and forced him to be scratched from the opening jewel in the Triple Crown.
"Unfortunately we couldn't run in the Derby with a little quarter crack and we didn't have time to address it," said Baffert, the two-time Triple Crown winner seeking his fourth Belmont win and a record-extending 18th Triple Crown victory. "You can't miss training when you are trying to run in the Kentucky Derby."
The same problem prevented the colt bred by Roderick Wachman's Kingwood Farm and David Egan out of the Cherokee Run mare Cayala from running in the Preakness two weeks later.
But the outlook is much brighter now as the connections look to start a third different 3-year-old in the Triple Crown after Citizen Bull was 15th in the Kentucky Derby and Goal Oriented fourth in the Preakness.
"His foot is 110% and we definitely feel like we have worked our way back onto a schedule we can stick with. Bob told me before the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness that we need to be 110% to run and we found ourselves on the wrong side of that metric both times," Ryan said. "The bad weather complicated the problem with his foot and we all know Mother Nature is undefeated. So, we had to be patient and we're hoping to be rewarded in the Belmont. The timing was just unfortunate for a horse who never had an off day before that."
If there are two things the second Belmont at Saratoga Race Course could be short on, it is horses and speed. There were as few as six possible starters at the beginning of this week and the only one with keen early speed is Rodriguez.
It would seem that for all the attention focused on hopefuls like Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and Preakness victor Journalism, trying to catch Rodriguez could prove problematic in the 1 1/4-mile classic at the Spa.
"Most likely Rodriguez will be the target and we have visibility on his ability. This is not like we're hoping he steps up. We know he has the class and that he has an extra gear," Ryan said. "But everything has to go right. We were looking at the first Saturday in May and now we're focusing on the first Saturday in June. I'm taking nothing for granted. No matter how many horses are in the field, it will be a tough race."
