Rosario back in the saddle with six mounts
Jockey Joel Rosario will jump into his comeback Friday with six mounts at Oaklawn Park, including Cazadero in the featured eighth race that also drew Grade 2 winner C Z Rocket.
The feature is a conditioned allowance for 4-year-olds and up over six furlongs. The field of seven also includes stakes winner Mojo Man and Oaklawn horse-for-course Seven Nation Army.
Rosario is riding for the first time since Dec. 2 at Aqueduct. He will be based at Oaklawn and travel for key mounts. Rosario has a number of stakes engagements Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds, rides Horse of the Year candidate Knicks Go in the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream, and will “file into California at some point,” agent Ron Anderson said.
Rosario was to travel to Oaklawn from South Florida on Wednesday, Anderson said.
“We had planned to come there from the start if he didn’t get banged up,” Anderson said. “He had a hairline fracture in a rib. This was in the mix from way back.”
Rosario will be in action from the first race Friday, riding My Favorite Uncle for trainer Steve Asmussen. His other five mounts on the card also come for the barn in a busy afternoon for the rider known for his outstanding fitness.
“We had kind of planned on four or five-ish, but a couple of races we didn’t expect went,” Anderson said. “It’s okay. He’s ready to go. A world-class athlete looking forward to getting started.
“He diligently works out like you can’t believe. He’s been on the Equicizer at Gulfstream Park. He’s on the treadmill. He runs. He’s an extremely conscientious athlete.”
Anderson said purse structure and the opportunity to ride for Asmussen and trainer Brad Cox, among others, was reason to base out of Oaklawn.
“Looking at the condition book, the purses look like misprints,” Anderson said.
The feature Friday is worth $101,000. Cazadero gives up recency to his rivals, but could prove to be the controlling speed. Or, he could get an ideal tracking trip off Mojo Man when he breaks from post 7.
Cazadero last raced in June, winning a conditioned allowance over seven furlongs at Churchill Downs. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 90, the best last-race number in the Friday field. Earlier in his career, Cazadero won the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs and was second in the Bachelor at Oaklawn.
Cazadero is a homebred for Stonestreet Stables. He is by Street Sense and out of the mare Wild Gams, a multiple Grade 3 winner who earned $1.1 million on the track.
C Z Rocket leads Friday’s field in earnings with $1.5 million in the bank. He was seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in his last start Nov. 6 at Del Mar. C Z Rocket broke last in the quick race and rallied, beaten five lengths by Aloha West.
C Z Rocket now returns to Oaklawn, where last year he won the Hot Springs Stakes by a neck over champion Whitmore, then returned to capture the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at the same six-furlong distance he will travel Friday.
As for Rosario, he’s also named to ride in two other high-end races on Friday’s card. The sixth race is an allowance for 3-year-olds at a mile, and Chasing Time, with Rosario aboard, could go favored while chasing a purse of $100,000. Rosario has the mount on Front Street in the ninth race, a conditioned allowance for fillies and mares that also is worth $100,000.
Rosario is named on three horses Saturday at Oaklawn, including Concert Tour in the $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes for trainer Brad Cox. Rosario has six mounts Sunday, including Man in the Can, the reigning Arkansas-bred of the year who goes in the allowance feature for trainer Ron Moquett.
Rosario led all North America-based riders in earnings last year with $32,044,478.