Hazlewood, Ruiz capitalizing with Rodriguez riding out of town
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With jockey Jaime Rodriguez taking more work at Aqueduct in the past two months, the fall meet at Laurel has become an opportunistic one for several jockeys remaining in Maryland. With the leading rider momentarily out of the picture, Yedsit Hazlewood and Jorge Ruiz have taken full advantage and are tied atop the standings with 30 wins each.
Hazlewood and Ruiz may be taking up space once occupied by Rodriguez, winner of the last two riding titles at the Laurel fall meet, but they are not directly replacing the rider. The vast majority of Rodriguez’s mounts at Laurel have historically come from trainer Jamie Ness, who has primarily turned to Mychel Sanchez and Martin Chuan to pick up the slack in the past two months.
Sanchez has taken 31 mounts from Ness through Nov. 5, up from 13 at the same point last year. Chuan, who often rides for Ness at Delaware, has taken more trips to Laurel recently and has picked up 10 mounts for the trainer. Rodriguez has taken 11, down from 45 at this point last year.
Sanchez and Chuan may be getting more opportunities as a direct result of Rodriguez’s absence, but Hazlewood and Ruiz have found even more success by earning mounts elsewhere.
As an apprentice rider in his first season, the key to Hazlewood’s success has been to be available everywhere. Through early November last year, Rodriguez was aboard 6.94 percent of all starters at Laurel. At this meet, Hazlewood boasts a similar 6.39 percent share.
The 17-year-old jockey started out riding for trainer Jose Corrales and has since taken the lion’s share of mounts from several local trainers, including Hugh McMahon, Claudio Gonzalez, and Phillip Capuano. Gary Capuano, who has expanded his successful juvenile operation, has given 15 of his 19 Laurel starters to Hazlewood.
“I’ve really liked the bugs over the years, I’ve supported them real well,” Capuano said. ”[Sometimes], you get a bug rider with a little bit of talent there that keeps getting better and takes advantage of the weight. He’s been riding well and doing everything well, so I can’t complain. I’ve had confidence in him, even when he doesn’t get the weight in the stakes races.”
For Ruiz, much of the uptick in production has been a matter of availability. With more consistent appearances at Laurel this year, the jockey has managed to take better advantage of pre-existing relationships with several trainers.
He is the first-call rider in the area for Graham Motion and Mike Trombetta, who have given him 40 combined mounts at the meet. He only received 21 mounts from the top turf trainers at Laurel through early November last year.
In past years, Ruiz has not spent the entirety of his fall campaign in the Mid-Atlantic region, often heading down to Florida toward the end of the year. This could prove to be an immense opportunity for Hazlewood, who would be in line to earn a riding title in his first season in the United States.
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