March/April 2024 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN March/April 2024 Page 71 Rodriguez is Top Rider Jaime Rodriguez ended 2023 as Maryland's leading jockey with 166 wins, one of four riders to finish in triple digits along with Jeiron Barbosa (137), Jevian To- ledo (130) and Angel Cruz (105). Rodriguez, also tops with more than $6 million in purse earnings, captured Race 9 on December 31 with pickup mount Midnight Renegade ($5.80) to move him past Toledo, 50-49, for the fall meet title. “We had a great year. Thank God everything came together in the last race and we got it done,” Rodriguez said. “It's amazing. I never thought it was going to happen like that. I have the support from my family. That just makes me happy and makes it more special. Once you have the support of the family, you just have to keep it going and keep working.” Rodriguez, a 32-year-old native of Puerto Rico, rides first call for Jaime Ness and in his first full season in Maryland added Laurel winter and summer meet titles, while also leading the five-month Delaware Park stand that ended Nov. 4 for a third straight year in both wins and purse earnings. Among his Maryland wins were stakes victories with 3-year-old Coffeewithchris in the Miracle Wood, Mavilus in the Conniver, Beth's Dream in the Heavenly Cause and 2-year-old Copper Tax in the James F. Lewis III, all at Laurel. Represented by agent John Weilbacher, Rodriguez tied Chuck Baltazar (1969) and Horacio Karamanos (2002) by riding a Laurel track record with seven wins on a single program March 17. Four of those win- ners were trained by Ness. He finished 2023 with career highs in starters (1,095) and purses earned ($8.2 million), while his 237 wins were second to 2022's 243. “He's a really talented rider and a good person. He started riding for me two years ago and I don't give him instructions. He knows all my horses. It makes such a big difference when you've got a rider that you're on the same page with,” Ness said. “It's like a coach and a quarter- back. It's huge. He had a great year, well-deserved. He's been leading rider on two different fronts. I don't know too many jocks that win at two different meets in two different states at the same time. That's pretty rare.” Russell Makes Maryland History as Leading Trainer (Continued from page 68) Remember... tell our advertisers you found them in East Coast Equestrian!