Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

Jockey Profile
Pablo Morales
Born: September 5, 1988
Birthplace: Lima, Peru
Residence: Tampa, FL
Family: Wife, Erin; daughter, Sophia; son, Camilo
First Win: Alena’s Boy, Gulfstream Park, 2005
Started Riding: 2004, Monterrico, Peru
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Presque Isle Downs
Precocious is one word used to describe Pablo Morales. He earned his first
North American victory at Gulfstream in 2005 before his 17th birthday; that
same year, just after turning 17, he captured the Grade II, $750,000 Super
Derby at Louisiana Downs aboard The Daddy. Talented is another spot-on
definition. Morales won three consecutive riding titles at Presque Isle Downs in
Erie, Pa., from 2011-2013 before settling for second the next two seasons. By
late summer of 2016, he was in contention for another title. Morales finished
eighth in the Oldsmar standings last season with 31 victories. Earlier in his
career, Morales spent two winters riding at Aqueduct in New York for such
leading trainers as Gary Contessa, Kiaran McLaughlin and H. Graham Motion,
but welcomes the chance every winter and spring to compete at Tampa Bay
Downs. He recorded career victory No. 1,000 in 2014 at Presque Isle Downs
aboard For Scipion. One of several jockeys from Peru to ride in Oldsmar in
recent years, Morales graduated from the same jockeys school in Peru as Hall
of Fame member Edgar Prado, West Coast standout Rafael Bejarano and
Oldsmar rival Fernando De La Cruz. Morales achieved back-to-back stakes
victories in 2015 at Presque Isle and Parx aboard the filly R Frosty One for
trainer Eduardo Rojas, his father-in-law.
Erick D. Rodriguez
Born: March 3, 1980
Birthplace: Ponce, Puerto Rico
Residence: Tampa, FL
Family: Sons, Cristian and Adrian; daughter, Ericka
First win: Parx Racing, 2002
Started Riding: 2001, Calder Race Course
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Delaware Park, Laurel
His ability to produce a mount’s best effort on the Tampa Bay Downs turf course
helped Rodriguez land the 2016 Florida Cup Pleasant Acres Stallions Distaff
Turf aboard 24-1 shot Speed Seeker, but it isn’t only local trainers who know
of his mastery on the grass. In 2014, Rodriguez was the only jockey to win
two graded stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, capturing the Endeavour and the
Hillsborough (both Grade IIIs at the time) on the 5-year-old mare Cloud Scapes,
a Pin Oak Stable homebred trained by H. Graham Motion. Rodriguez learned
early in his career that being a jockey can be dangerous, but the rewards can
be immense. In 2005, four months after breaking four vertebrae in his back,
he won the abbreviated summer meeting at Pimlico. He had a strong summer
at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., in 2015, riding 74 winners to finish third
in the standings. He moved his tack to Delaware for the summer of 2016.
Rodriguez built his career from the ground up, galloping and breaking horses
in Puerto Rico before coming to the mid-Atlantic region. Rodriguez earned his
first graded-stakes victory on Ryan’s For Real in the 2008 Grade III, $200,000
Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap at Hawthorne for trainer Dale Capuano. He is
closing in on 1,500 career victories.
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