Aqueduct: Rodriguez resigned to serving suspension
There is never a good time for a trainer to serve a suspension, but with a Kentucky Derby contender in his barn, the timing couldn’t be worse for Rudy Rodriguez.
David GreningMar 14, 2013
There is never a good time for a trainer to serve a suspension, but with a Kentucky Derby contender in his barn, the timing couldn’t be worse for Rudy Rodriguez.
Super Ninety Nine has been unbeatable since moving to two turns, and his trainer, Bob Baffert, has been nearly as effective with his starters at Oaklawn Park. On Saturday, Super Ninety Nine will be heavily favored to give Baffert his fourth consecutive win in the Rebel.
A California horseplayer visiting Florida for the first time did not know what to expect pulling into the parking lot at Tampa Bay Downs last Saturday.
Garrett Gomez will replace Julien Leparoux aboard Flashback for his next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday morning at Santa Anita. “It’s a tough decision, a very difficult decision,” Baffert said of replacing Leparoux, who had been aboard Flashback for all three of his previous starts.
Gary West always has taken the long view, which is why, even though he’s holding a hot hand right now with his Kentucky Derby prospects, he’s soberly realistic about what the next seven weeks could hold.
Rudy Rodriguez, the leading trainer at Aqueduct and the conditioner of undefeated Kentucky Derby contender Vyjack, will begin serving a 20-day suspension Saturday for two medication positives.
Frac Daddy will try to put the troublesome last few months behind him and resurrect his Derby hopes on March 23 in the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park.
At last check, the purse for the Florida Derby is still $1 million and the race is still worth 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, including 100 to the winner. But at last check with the Gulfstream Park racing office, there are still only three 3-year-olds confirmed as starters for the race, the highly regarded trio of reigning 2-year-old champ Shanghai Bobby, Grade 3 Holy Bull winner Itsmyluckyday, and Grade 2 Fountain of Youth hero Orb.
Hear the Ghost, who won the San Felipe Stakes, and Java’s War, second to Verrazano in the Tampa Bay Derby, make their first appearances in the top 20 of Derby Watch.
I am not saying Verrazano is Big Brown or Curlin. I am saying that those two horses proved that the old ways of looking at the Kentucky Derby are just that – old.