Due To Ailing Foot Issue, Rodriguez Out of Preakness Stakes
Wood Memorial champion Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Kentucky Derby due to a foot issue, will now miss the Preakness Stakes, per a report by David Grening of Daily Racing Form.
Trainer Bob Baffert, who had just confirmed the son of Authentic would run on Thursday, quickly changed course, opting now to hold out one of the top contenders for the race. Instead, Rodriguez will now prep for the Belmont Stakes on June 7 at Saratoga.
“He’ll be perfect for the Belmont,” Baffert told Grening “I couldn’t prep him like I wanted to [for the Preakness]. Once he had the foot issue, you got to let those things simmer down. I didn’t have enough time.”
Baffert, who owns the Preakness record of eight victories, will now pin his hopes to add to that total with light-raced longshot Goal Oriented..
Breaking news: RODRIGUEZ will now miss the Preakness Stakes (G1). @icecoldexacta and @mrdubbsie tell us more.
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) May 9, 2025
Watch more on @FanDuelTV. pic.twitter.com/KKI8nDZyIJ
“He won the other day, he galloped around there and came out of it like it was nothing,” Baffert said. “He came out of it better than he went into it.”
While trainers of several Derby runners, including champion Sovereignty, Baffert sees no issues firing back Goal Oriented who raced on the undercard on Derby Day.
“No, it won’t bother him at all,” Baffert added to Grening. “Some horses are made for it. I think he has a lot of qualities. We haven’t seen his best yet. I would have run him a mile first out at home, but the timing wasn’t right. This race, the other day, we put him on the lead. I don’t think he has to be on the lead. We did it because we didn’t know what to expect with the rain.”
While considering the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard on May 17, the Hall of Fame trainer ultimately decided to give the son of Not This Time a shot in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
“I was going to run him in the Sir Barton and Rodriguez in the Preakness,” Baffert explained to Grening. “To me, he’s going to run hard in the Sir Barton, I’d rather run him in the Preakness.”
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