Rudy Rodriguez usually
avoids looking too far into the future, but he couldn’t help but express
cautious optimism the morning after he picked up his biggest victory as
a trainer when
Vyjack came from off the pace to win Aqueduct Racetrack’s Grade 3 Gotham by 2 ¼ lengths.
The victory gave
Vyjack, who is unbeaten in four starts, 50 points in the new “Road to
the Kentucky Derby” qualifying system, which likely is enough to put him
in the starting gate at Churchill Downs on May 4.
“He doesn’t know what
he’s doing yet,” said Rodriguez of Vyjack’s upside. “I think he’s still
got more. He’s big and strong, so hopefully he’ll keep growing and keep
running. We’re very, very impressed with what
he did yesterday.”
Ridden by Joel Rosario for the first time in the
Gotham, Vyjack, who had set or pressed the pace in his previous three starts, raced in 10th around the clubhouse turn and was in eighth when the field reached the quarter pole. Angled outside, the gelding blew past
his competition in the stretch and won going away.
“I was looking for him
to run that way, taking dirt in the face because we have been working
with him like that,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a type of horse where if you
grab him, he wants to go, go, go. I told that
to Joel, and I guess he just grabbed the reins. He said he was a little
concerned because when the other horse pushed him outside he was [wider
than he wanted to be], but it looked like he did everything he was
supposed to do. We were very, very happy to see
him do what he did yesterday, especially when everything was winning
close to the pace.”
Rodriguez noted how Vyjack has matured since his victory in the Grade 2 Jerome on January 5.
“His mind is more settled,” said Rodriguez. “Pretty much, you have to let him do what he wants to do without pushing him.”
Vyjack’s owner, David
Wilkenfeld of Pick Six Racing, said after yesterday’s race that he and
Rodriguez will keep the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial over
Aqueduct’s main track on April 6 as their next objective.
“He was training before
on the main track, and he ran very good [in a maiden special weight in
December and the Traskwood overnight stakes on December on the main
track],” said Rodriguez. “So far, he’s been very
good, so, hopefully he’ll keep going that way, and, hopefully we’ll
keep him sound.”
Rodriguez expressed no disappointment over
Head Heart Hoof’s third-place finish in yesterday’s Grade 3 Tom
Fool, won by Comma to the Top. Head Heart Hoof, a 7-year-old, was making
his first start since winning the Grade 3 Toboggan on February 2.
“It was one of the best
races he’s ever run,” said Rodriguez of Head Heart Hoof’s performance
in the Tom Fool. “I was more impressed to see him hang around with that
type of horses than what he did last time
[in the Toboggan]. I know last time he was a winner, but it looked like
he had [Comma to the Top] beat. [Comma to the Top] was just better than
us, but I was very, very happy with the way he ran. He was going very
good, very comfortable. The last time [jockey
Cornelio Velasquez] took a nice hold of him. Yesterday, [Velasquez] was
able to let him relax and move along very comfortably with another
horse. For a moment, it looked like he was going to sprint away from
[Comma to the Top].”