Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Rodriguez

Rodriguez emerged as a top-tier 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) contender when leading from start to finish in the Wood Memorial (G2) on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Rodriguez posted quick times throughout the 1 1/8-mile race and drew off down the homestretch to prevail by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:48.15. But can he successfully stretch out another furlong in distance for the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby?

Five years ago, the same question faced Rodriguez’s sire, Authentic. The son of leading North American sire Into Mischief was arguably bred to be an elite miler more than a 1 1/4-mile route racer. During the summer, he was all-out to win the 1 1/8-mile Haskell (G1) in advance of a Kentucky Derby postponed to September due to COVID-19.

But as Authentic matured, he proved himself capable of handling classic distances with aplomb. First he sprung a gate-to-wire upset in the Kentucky Derby, reaching the finish line in a fast 2:00.61. Then he finished second by a neck in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness (G1), which elapsed in the blazing time of 1:53.28. Finally, he wired the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland in the track-record time of 1:59.60.

Authentic only raced once as a juvenile, and he didn’t peak until the second half of his three-year-old season. Unsurprisingly, his first foals are following suit. They reached the races in 2024 and failed to achieve much as juveniles, but they’re warming up as three-year-olds this year. In addition to Rodriguez, Authentic is the sire of 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby (G1) third-place finisher Westwood and 1 1/16-mile Lecomte (G3) third-place finisher Innovator, two runners who have earned qualification points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

So far, the progeny of Authentic are winning at an average distance of 7.4 furlongs, a lofty number for such a young stallion. It suggests Authentic’s runners appreciate racing route distances, which we’re already seeing as they mature into three-year-olds.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s dam is Cayala, who scored her lone victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight on turf at Hollywood Park. While hardly a standout racehorse, Cayala has proven highly successful as a broodmare. Her previous foals include One Liner, winner of the 1 1/16-mile Southwest (G3) and runner-up in the 1 3/16-mile Pimlico Special (G3); Provocateur, a two-time stakes-winning sprinter who placed third in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G1); and Roderick, third in the 6 1/2-furlong Nyquist S.

Notably, One Liner, Provocateur, and Roderick are all sons of Into Mischief, the sire of Authentic. The cross of Cayala with Authentic produces a very similar pedigree, but Authentic’s emerging tendency to sire route racers may have endowed Rodriguez with more stamina than his closely related half-siblings.

Turning now to the lineage of Cayala, she’s a daughter of Cherokee Run out of Chasethegold, by Touch Gold. Cherokee Run is best remembered as a champion sprinter who won the six-furlong Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), but he wasn’t without stamina; running long, he won the 1 1/8-mile Dwyer (G2) and finished second by half a length in the Preakness.

At stud, Cherokee Run enjoyed respectable success as the sire of champion two-year-old male and 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner War Pass; Kentucky Derby participants Zanjero and Recapturetheglory, who won graded stakes running as far as 1 1/8 miles; Kafwain, a three-time graded stakes winner who placed in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Santa Anita Derby; Chilukki, a champion two-year-old filly who won at the Grade 1 level racing as far as 1 1/16 miles; and Yonaguska, a Grade 1-winning sprinter who sired Kentucky Derby and Preakness top-three finisher Musket Man.

Meanwhile, daughters of Cherokee Run have foaled Hokko Tarumae, winner of the 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) Champions Cup (G1) and a bevy of local Group 1 races running as far as 2,100 meters (about 1 5/16 miles) on dirt in Japan; The Blue Eye, an accomplished campaigner running long on turf in Qatar; and Rattlesnake Bridge, runner-up in the 1 1/4-mile Travers (G1).

As for Chasethegold, she proved best as a sprinter, finishing second in the Senator Ken Maddy H. (G3) sprinting about 6 1/2 furlongs over the downhill turf course at Santa Anita. But there’s stamina in her bloodlines since her sire, Touch Gold, won the 1 1/2-mile Belmont (G1).

All things considered, the pedigree of Rodriguez appears to contain an ideal blend of speed and stamina suitable for success racing 1 1/4 miles on dirt.