Rodriguez can start new year on high note

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez won the last stakes run on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2020 when Back side of the moon took the Queens County Stakes on Dec. 19. Rodriguez hopes to win the first stakes of 2021 on this circuit when he runs Eagle Orb in Friday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Eagle Orb, a New York-bred son of 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, is coming off a 2 3/4-length victory in the Notebook Stakes for statebreds going six furlongs on Nov. 14. Prior to that, he finished second to Brooklyn Strong in the $150,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes, also for New York-breds. That was Eagle Orb’s only start at the Jerome distance of one mile. That result looked a little a better when Brooklyn Strong came back to win the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct on Dec. 5.

“I think he’d be fine. He trains like he wants to go long,” Rodriguez said about the distance. “The day we ran a mile and finished second he went pretty fast up front and he still was able to hold on. Brooklyn Strong is a very, very solid horse.”

The only time in five starts that Eagle Orb didn’t win or finish second was in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes, when he finished fifth of six as the 4-5 favorite. Rodriguez said that Jose Ortiz, who rode him that day, may have taken too much of a hold of the horse down the backside.

“Even in the morning if you take too much of a hold, he just falls apart, he won’t gallop out, nothing,” Rodriguez said. “He’s the type of horse you got to let him do his own thing, let him be comfortable.”

Manny Franco, who has been aboard Eagle Orb his last two starts, will be back aboard on Friday.

Entries for the Jerome, which offers 17 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Derby to its top four finishers (10-4-2-1), were to be taken on Tuesday. Others expected to run include Capo Kane, Hold the Salsa, Original, Pickin’ Time, and Swill.

Rodriguez will also look to win the second stakes of 2021 at a NYRA track when he runs Pete’s Play Call in Saturday’s $100,000 Gravesend Stakes for sprinters. Rodriguez claimed Pete’s Play Call for $62,500 on Nov. 27. Pete’s Play Call won that race by two lengths, earning a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. On Sunday, Pete’s Play Call worked four furlongs in 47.61 seconds over the Belmont Park training track.

“He had a very, very nice work today,” Rodriguez said Sunday. “He’s been training very forwardly. Hopefully, he stays that way.”

The Gravesend field is expected to include Drafted, Happy Farm, Share the Ride, and Stan the Man.

As for Back side of the moon, he earned a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure for his Queens County victory, his final race as an 8-year-old. Though Rodriguez would like to give him ample time to recover from that effort, he said he may run him back in the $100,000 Jazil Stakes on Jan. 23. That race, like the Queens County, is run at 1 1/8 miles around two turns. There isn’t another such race on this circuit until the Excelsior on April 3.

Trainer Morrison retires

Citing the need to address significant health issues, John Morrison has retired from training after more than two decades on the New York Racing Association circuit.

Morrison, 58, said he needs surgery on his back and hip but must first get his diabetes under control in order to have those procedures done. In the summer, he had two stents put in around his heart.

“Right now, it’s just about getting healthy to be able to function, which I cannot do right now,” Morrison said Sunday from upstate New York, where he has moved in with his brother. “Walking is painful, walking is difficult. Given the whole situation, it was just time to step away. I probably should have done this sooner than later. I just have to concentrate on me getting healthy right now.”

Morrison said he has worked on the racetrack since 1983. He has worked for Rusty Arnold, was with Richie O’Connell when he had the Grade 1-winning New York-bred Thunder Rumble, and also worked for David Whiteley and Mike Bell.

According to Equibase records, Morrison trained 181 winners from 1,691 starters from 1997-2020. His horses earned $8,413,933 in purse money.

His most accomplished runner was Acey Deucey, who won three stakes, including the Grade 1 Prioress in 2005. Morrison called her victory in the Prioress his career highlight, but noted that her jockey, Diane Nelson, and Morrison’s barn foreman James Baldridge are no longer alive.

Other stakes winners trained by Morrison included Red Zipper, Uncle T Seven, Lady on the Run, Say three hail mary’ s, and Carrera Cat.

Morrison said he was down to four horses in training and a couple of those went to David Donk. Morrison’s primary owners were Jeffrey Tucker, Joseph Gioia (Very Un Stable), and Vincent Murray.

“I’m thankful to Mr. Tucker, Joe Gioia, and Vincent Murray and everybody else who supported me over the years – all my help and everything,” Morrison said. “I just have to take care of me because if I don’t I’m not going to be here.”