News
Rodriguez Developing Skills As Rider
by Jada Buchanan
Hoosier Park Racing and Casino is proud to have jockeys that come from different backgrounds and have a variety of interests and talents. Diego Rodriguez is a jockey that has definitely found his passion and talent on horseback. Not only is Rodriquez a talented jockey, he is also a well-known roper.
A native of Guanaguato, Mexico, Rodriguez came to the United States when he was 11, following family members to the Ocala, Fla. area. He spoke no English and stopped by a farm, looking for a job.
“In 1992, I came over looking for a job at a horse farm, and stopped by Jerry and Leslie Bailey’s place near Ocala,” said Rodriguez. “They took me in and kind of raised me from that point on. They wanted to send me to school, but I wanted to work, so they brought in a teacher and I was home schooled.”
Rodriguez started learning about horses from the ground up. He began learning the trade of roping and began competing in 1997. However, he always had aspirations of becoming a jockey. His cousin, Alex Estrada, is also a jockey. Estrada is currently competing on the Indiana circuit.
Rodriguez began assisting with breaking babies and working with two-year-olds, landing a job breezing horses for the sales in Florida. In 2002, he became an exercise rider for Todd Pletcher and later came to Kentucky, working in the same capacity with Patrick Biancone.
Rodriguez rode his first race at Churchill Downs and experienced his first winner Nov. 28, 2007 aboard Natalicat. He continued on the Kentucky circuit, but keeps close ties with the Bailey family in Ocala.
“The Baileys are like my parents,” said Rodriguez. “Their farm is home to me. I go back every winter around sale time and work the sales. I work all the two-year-old sales during a six-week period and travel the circuit from Ocala to California to Miami and back.”
Rodriguez also takes time off from the busy racing world to rope during his breaks. At the farm, he enjoys fine tuning his skills for team roping aboard his Palomino Quarter Horse “Pickles.” In 2007, Rodriguez and his roping partner, Leslie Bailey, won the U.S. Team Roping Championships at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry Georgia. That same year, he went on to finish seventh in team roping at Oklahoma City at the AQHA World Championship Show.
“It (team roping) is a lot of fun and a stress reliever,” said Rodriquez. “I team up a lot with my boss’s wife, Leslie, but mostly, you just pick your partner every time you go to a show. I’ve been riding “Pickles” for the past five years. He’s a good roping horse and the one I always use for the shows.”
Rodriguez moved to the Indiana circuit this spring, winning 15 races at Indiana Downs and just missing a spot among the top 10. He is hooked up with jock’s agent George Carrero, who has been an agent at Hoosier Park since the inaugural year in 1995.
