Belmont Stakes 2025: Rodriguez following sire Authentic's late-blooming path

One June 7, 2020, the Triple Crown series had not yet begun due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Authentic had finished second in his first Grade 1 start, the Santa Anita Derby. Fate dictated that his emergence on the Triple Crown scene would come late, and it worked out for him. Authentic won the Haskell Invitational in July and the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby – the second leg of the Triple Crown that year following the June 20 Belmont Stakes – before finishing second in the Preakness Stakes and winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic to earn Horse of the Year honors.

Five years later, fate has dictated that Rodriguez, from the first crop of Authentic, will emerge late on the Triple Crown scene. The Grade 2 Wood Memorial winner, Rodriguez was scratched from the Kentucky Derby with a foot issue that also caused him to miss the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. Rodriguez will be saddled by Bob Baffert, who also trained his sire.

“He’s different,” Baffert said. “Authentic was pretty high-strung. His athleticism is a lot like him.”

Authentic, who stands alongside his sire, six-time reigning leading stallion Into Mischief, at Spendthrift Farm, was seventh on last year’s freshman sire earnings list, with minor stakes winner Power Connection at Albuquerque and three other stakes-placed runners. But Authentic’s runners are stepping forward as 3-year-olds, much as their sire did.

In addition to Rodriguez, Authentic has stakes winner Reagan’s Wit, Grade 1-placed Westwood, Grade 3-placed Innovator, and stakes-placed Cool Intentions to his credit this season. He sits second on the second-crop sire earnings list as of June 3, trailing only Vekoma, whose figure is helped by Golden Vekoma, winner of the rich Saudi Derby. Authentic’s progeny have an average winning distance just shy of 7.5 furlongs, an outstanding number considering the preponderance of sprints in the U.S.

Authentic would be the second son of Into Mischief to sire a classic winner after Goldencents – who also stands at Spendthrift – was represented by 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan. Into Mischief is the sire of a record-tying three Kentucky Derby winners in Authentic, 2021 official winner Mandaloun, and this year’s hero Sovereignty, who runs in Saturday’s Belmont.

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