For those who thought trainer Bob Baffert’s decision to send Rodriguez to run for fun in the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct … wrong!
Rodriguez, under Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, took the lead early and rolled to a 3 ½-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile Wood, giving the six-time Kentucky Derby winner yet another 3-year-old to "Run for the Roses" at Churchill Downs on May 3.
While Withers Stakes winner Captain Cook was the talk of the town as New York’s top Derby contender, California invader Rodriguez stole the show on Saturday.
The Wood is a Derby prep with qualifying points of 100-50-25-15-10 to the top five finishers. With the win, Rodriguez has 121.25 points – among the top 5 on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.
“When he’s clear, he’s happy, he’s gonna run,’’ Smith said.
For Baffert, who added yet another Derby contender to his list in his comeback after a three-year suspension by Churchill Downs, the Wood win was his third.
No matter who came up to Rodriguez during the race, the Authentic colt never wavered as he escaped the shadow of Citizen Bull, Barnes, and several other stablemates.
“He’d been training like he was going to do something like that. I’ve always been very high on him. He’s just had some rough trips here in California,’’ Baffert said from Santa Anita. “I knew the added distance would be a big factor for him. I thought he’d love stretching out and going a mile and an eighth."
“Mike Smith told me he wanted a super live one, and I said, ‘Man, I’ve got a good one for you.’ He rode him beautifully. The horse looked great – he looked like Authentic. He won like a good horse. It was very impressive.”
RODRIGUEZ is Derby-bound! 🌹
— NYRA (🗽) (@TheNYRA) April 5, 2025
A powerful performance in the G2 Wood Memorial presented by @ResortsWorldNYC punches his ticket to the @KentuckyDerby and gives Mike Smith his 4th Wood Memorial win! pic.twitter.com/nTSNHZ3mio
With Grande finishing second and earning 50 qualifying points, trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole have themselves a Derby runner.
For Captain Cook, who finished fourth for trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr., the 15 points that moved his total to 35 may not be enough to limit the Derby field to 20 starters. In the past, 40 points have been the cutline.
Passion Rules was third, followed by Captain Cook, McAfee, Sand Devil, Tiger Twenty Four, Statesman, Omaha Omaha, and My Mitole.
Rodriguez finished second to Citizen Bull in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) and third behind Journalism and Barnes in the San Felipe (G2).
Now he’s headed to the Derby.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
