Welcome to the Kentucky Derby Prospection's profiles, where we can see every week on a winner on the way to the Derby Time Plan, the qualification points for the 1 ¼ miles-classic race on May 3, 2025 in Churchill Downs.
This week we will accuse ourselves of RodriguezThe 3 ½-length winner of the $ 750,000 from Wood Memorial Stakes from Resorts World Casino on April 5th in the aqueduct. The genuine Colt earned 100 points for qualifying for the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. With 121.25 total points, he takes third place on the street to the Kentucky Derby ranking.
Racing summary: Rodriguez ended in all five of his starts among the top three. After a first victory on January 4th in Santa Anita Park, which brought in a vast speed, he drove exclusively in Stakes on the Kentucky Derby Trail. He took second place at Champion (and Bob Baffert Staffen) in the 200,000 US dollar Robert B. Lewis Stakes on February 1st and then a distant third behind journalism and Staffena Barnes in the 300,000 dollar -DK horse horse San Felipe Stakes on March 1st in Santa Anita.
Baffert tried Rodriguez in search of his first mission victory to Novel York and removed his indicators for the Wood Memorial Stakes, a tactic that the Hall of Fame trainer often used with ripening 3-year-olds with good results. Rodriguez set a solid pace under the Hall of Fame driver Mike Smith in the Wood Memorial with half a mile in: 47.44 and ended the final three-night mile in: 36.90 and the last Furlong in: 12.47.
Rodriguez-named after the delayed musician Sixto Rodriguez, who was profiled in the film “Search for Sugar Man”, is a foal on May 20. While he is officially 3 years ancient, he still has about a month and a half until he really turns.
“The feedback from Mike Smith was:” Tom, he went through the wire with stinging his ears and wanted more, “said Ryan.” He is a May baby that really starts to get into himself at the right time, not far from his father. Genuine took a while to mature, not necessarily physically, but the mental aspect that had to be together to get together. “
Speeds: Rodriguez 'one-mile-Maiden victory with seven lengths 4th January produced star speed figures and earned a 105-equibase speed number and a 100 beyer speed in his second race. He was unable to achieve these numbers in the operations by Robert B. Lewis and San Felipe, but in the Wood monument he improved them with a 111 equibase speed figure and 101 Beyer Speed figure, both career. The number of equibase is the highest for a 3-year-old in a stakes race in 2025, while the Beyer number corresponds to seven points from the top number of a 3-year-old.
Running style: In his last two missions, Rodriguez was asked to assess the pace behind Stroblematees Citizen Bull and Barnes in five-horse fields. It was beaten in Robert B. Lewis with 3 ¾ lengths and 11 ¼ length in the San Felipe Stakes. He returned to the step -up tactic, which led to his Breakout Maiden victory for the Wood Memorial Stakes in January, and his connections were rewarded with a second dominant victory. There will be a lot of competition for the early tour in the Kentucky Derby, but it seems that Rodriguez feels most comfortable in the foreground and dictates the pace.
Pedigree notes: Rodriguez, a purchase of 485,000 US dollars at the Keeland September sales from 2023 September, dates from the first harvest of 2020 Horse of the Year Genuine by leading the father to me. Genuine won the Kentucky Derby in September 2020 after it was postponed due to the Covid 19 pandemic and won the Breederers' Cup Classic with 2 ¼ length in November 2020. Rodriguez is genuine's first graded stakes winner.
Rodriguez was produced by the winner of Cherokee Run Mare Cayala, the dam of the three Stakes winners. In addition to Rodriguez, she produced the Southwest Stakes winner One Liner and the winner of the Multiple Stakes winner in class 1 in 2017, both of the mischief and Rodriguez.
Derby potential: What is the real Rodriguez? Is it the 3-year-old Colt, which ended 11 ¼ length behind journalism in the DK Horse San Felipe Stakes, or is it the dominant winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes on April 5th in the Aquäduct? The answer is probably somewhere in between.
I think Rodriguez improves mentally and very likely physically, and I also think that it was good for him to get away from speedy stable data in compact South California fields.
However, he seems to be a 3-year-old who gains considerable self-confidence when determining the pace. In the Kentucky Derby against up to 19 other 3 year olds, a challenge to the front will be.
Genuine stood in the Kentucky Derby 2020 with similar questions and proved the challenge, but he had more time to mature for this September classic. Nevertheless, Rodriguez is the right way, coach Baffert knows how to reach a 3-year-old on the first Saturday in May, and he is quickly on paper to be a legitimate winning candidate.
