belmont-stakes-4-imagn.jpg
Imagn Images

Scratched out of the Kentucky Derby and pulled out of the Preakness Stakes before those races were even run, the Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez will finally get to start in a Triple Crown race when he leaves the starting gate in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. The California speedball enters the final jewel of the Triple Crown with a distinct advantage over the rest of the field. 

3 Rodriguez (6-1)

  • Trainer: Bob Baffert
  • Jockey: Mike Smith
  • Last race: First in the Wood Memorial by 3½ lengths
  • Career record: 5 starts: 2 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third
  • Career earnings: $522,800
  • Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 101 (2025 Wood Memorial)
  • Sire: Authentic

Below, we'll dig further into Rodriguez as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 157th Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered on Saturday, and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.

Belmont Stakes profiles 1 Hill Road | 2 Sovereignty | 3 Rodriguez | 4 Uncaged | 5 Crudo | 6 Baeza | 7 Journalism | 8 Heart of Honor

Belmont Stakes picks Michelle Yu | Gene Menez | Jody Demling | Jeff Hochman

What to know about Rodriguez

The last we saw Rodriguez, he was winning the Wood Memorial on April 5, going gate-to-wire at 7-2 odds at FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET. The performance earned him a big 101 Beyer Speed Figure and made him a threat to win the Kentucky Derby, albeit at longshot odds.

But a quarter crack forced the connections to scratch Rodriguez out of the Derby and reroute to the Preakness. When the hoof issue didn't heal in time to race in Baltimore, the connections removed him from consideration for the second jewel of the Triple Crown as well.

But now trainer Bob Baffert says the colt is good to go for the Belmont Stakes, and Hay Rod could take this field a long way. He is projected to set the pace in an eight-horse field filled with midpack runners and late-running closers. (Only Crupo has shown the kind of early speed to keep Rodriguez company.) And Rodriguez has proven to be dangerous on the front end. The two times that he has gone to the lead in two-turn races, he has won both times. That includes a maiden special victory over eventual Santa Anita Derby runner-up Baeza by seven lengths.

Rodriguez is a late foal (he was born on May 20), and his sire, 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, didn't get good until late in his 3-year-old year. Baffert, who has won the Belmont Stakes three times, has said all spring that he expects Rodriguez's best days are well in front of him. If the colt has developed at all since his Wood Memorial win, he will be a handful to catch on Saturday.

Post draw analysis

Regardless of the post draw, the strategy for Rodriguez almost certainly will be to go straight to the front and try to hold off the classy closers in Journalism and Sovereignty. Of course, the other rivals in the race know that too, which could make getting loose on the lead difficult, especially now that he has drawn the No. 3 post and inside the other speed horse, Crudo. Still, Rodriguez does his best running on the front, and that's exactly where he is projected to be on Saturday.