Story by B. Jason Brooks
Kentucky Derby fever is in full swing with morning workouts being broadcast from Churchill Downs and expert handicappers’ picks consuming racing media. Claiborne Farm’s female families will be represented in the 151st Run for the Roses on Saturday, May 3rd by Rodgriguez. From the first crop of his 2020 Kentucky Derby-winning sire Authentic, Rodriguez hails from the accomplished Marguerite branch of Claiborne Farm’s imported British-bred foundation mare Fairy Ray.
From five career starts, Rodriguez has two wins, two second-place finishes, and one third-place finish. He broke his maiden at second asking in early January, impressively winning the one-mile maiden special weight by seven lengths at Santa Anita and earning a 100 Beyer speed figure. Runner-up was Baeza, a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mage and Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, who went on to qualify for the Derby with a runner-up effort in the Santa Anita Derby.
Remaining at the Arcadia, California track for his next two starts, Rodriguez stepped up in class next time out in February and finished runner-up in the grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes to stablemate and fellow Derby contender Citizen Bull. He came back in March and finished third in the grade 2 San Felipe Stakes behind early Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism and well-regarded stablemate Barnes. In search of a breakthrough that would lock him in for a starting position in the Kentucky Derby, he made his first start outside of California in the grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in early April, cruising to an impressive three-and-a-half length victory over a field that included fellow Derby contender Grande.
The dark bay or brown colt is one of three entries representing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert who is tied with trainer Ben A. Jones for the most Kentucky Derby wins with six.
Rodriguez retains the services of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith who holds the record for the most Kentucky Derby mounts with 28. He has won the classic race twice, first in 2005 aboard 50-to-1 longshot Giacomo and again in 2018 aboard eventual Triple Crown winner Justify. Given his success aboard Rodriguez in his gate-to-wire victory in the Wood Memorial, handicappers are predicting that Smith may again try to take Rodriguez to the front early on in the Derby.
Bred by Kingswood Farm and David Egan, Rodriguez is out of Cherokee run mare Cayala. Owned by a partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Diane Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan, Rodriguez was purchased for $485,000 from the Indian Creek consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Multiple members of Rodriguez’s partnership have teamed up in the recent past to buy colts that have gone on to elite grade 1 success and ended up as stallions, including Claiborne’s 2025 roster addition, Prince of Monaco (by Speightstown).
Rodriguez is a three-quarter sibling to a pair of stakes winner by Into Mischief. The first is Provocateur who finished third in the grade 1 Woody Stephens and won the Hutcheson Stakes and Jersey Shore Stakes, all during his 2022 campaign. The second is One Liner, winner of the grade 3 Southwest Stakes in 2017.
Rodriguez’s granddam Chasethegold, by Touch Gold, is half-sister to Albertus Maximus, by Albert the Great, winner of the grade 1 Donn Handicap in 2009, Daredevil, by More Than Ready, winner of the grade 1 Champagne Stakes in 2014, and Call Mariah, by Dixie Union, producer of 2022 Rosie’s Stakes winner Determined Jester, by Practical Joke, and 2020 Texas Turf Mile Stakes winner Bodecream, by Bodemeister.
Rodriguez’s great-granddam Chasethewildwind, by Claiborne stallion Forty Niner, is a half-sister to King Charlemagne, by Claiborne-bred sire Nureyev, a group 1 winner in France, and Meshaheer, also by Nureyev, a group 3 winner in England. Chasethewildwind is also a half-sister to Chasetheragingwind, by Dayjur, dam of Here Comes Ben, by Street Cry, winner of the grade 1 Forego Stakes in 2010, and granddam of Dayoutoftheoffice, by Into Mischief, winner of the grade 1 Frizette Stakes and runner-up in the grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, both in 2020. Rodriguez’s great-granddam Chasethewildwind and her accomplished siblings are out Race the Wild Wind, by Canadian-bred sire Sunny’s Halo, winner of the grade 1 Santa Maria Handicap in 1993.
Rodriguez’s tail-female line traces back to Claiborne Farm-bred blue hen mare Marguerite, by Arthur B. Hancock’s stallion Celt, who was out of Claiborne’s imported British-bred foundation mare Fairy Ray, by her native sire Radium. Purchased by William Woodward Sr. from the Claiborne consignment at the 1921 Saratoga Sale, Marguerite raced once and was retired due to an injury before beginning her broodmare career for Woodward’s Belair Stud.
Boarded at Claiborne, Marguerite produced four important siblings by Claiborne’s imported French-bred sire Sir Gallahad III, including 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox, 1938 Wood Memorial winner Fighting Fox, 1938 English champion 2-year-old male Foxbrough, and influential broodmare Marguery. Another one of Marguerite’s foals was Petee-Wrack, by Claiborne stallion Wrack, winner of the 1928 Travers Stakes, 1929 Metropolitan Handicap, and 1930 Suburban Handicap.
In addition Rodriguez’s family, some of Marguerite’s tail-female line descendants having recent success include California-bred The Chosen Vron, by Vronsky, winner of the grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes in 2023 and 2024, New York-bred Dr Ardito, by Liam’s Map, winner of the Haynesfield Stakes and Alex M. Robb Stakes in 2023, and British-bred Doha, by Irish-bred stallion Sea the Stars, winner of the 2024 Kensington Palace Stakes at Ascot.
With Marguerite’s accomplished family continuing to thrive at the highest levels, Rodriguez has an opportunity to become her second descendant to win the Kentucky Derby, 95 years after her son Gallant Fox’s successful Triple Crown campaign.