Super Agent Anderson Has Rosario In Position To Rock & Roll

The first Saturday in May belongs to the soldiers from Lilliput.

They spend the rest of the year strong-arming 1,000-pound thoroughbreds into disappearing holes. They starve themselves. They don't make shortstop money. When they get hurt, ambulances are called. They are there in front of you at least four times a week, risking themselves at least eight times a day, in a game that only pays three finishers. At the end they catch hell from the drive-by bettors.

They are jockeys. Dr. Robert Kerlan famously called them the greatest athletes in sports. The Kentucky Derby is their day.

“I try to explain to people how gifted they are,” said Ron Anderson, the jockey agent. “They're the elite. It's like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. They weren't taught to do what they do, and they can't sit down and explain it to you.

“It's not an easy go. I had Jerry Bailey from 2000 to 2006. He was always very edgy. He wanted to win so bad. He retired and told me later that people didn't realize how hungry he was. For 20 years.”

Bailey now analyzes the races for NBC.

“The day after I retired, I planned it out with my son Justin,” Bailey said. “People asked me what I wanted and I said, 'Lunch.' That's what I missed the most, so I had a turkey pastrami at Two Jays in South Florida. It was awesome. So big, I couldn't even have dinner that night.”

Anderson talks of the “20 races with 20 different animals” in the Derby, and the “18 decisions” that Bailey had to make when he won with Grindstone in 1996.

“Every one of them was right,” Anderson said, “But sometimes you need a horse that's nimble and athletic enough to get in and out of situations, too.”

A jock also needs an agent who can play the probabilities, to find the right horse in the right race. That's where Anderson comes in. His jocks have won 15 Triple Crown races, including five Derbies, and 37 Breeders Cup events. On Saturday he'll have Joel Rosario on Rock Your World, and John Velazquez on Medina Spirit.

He had Bailey, Gary Stevens, Fernando Toro, Corey Nakatani, Chris Antley and Garrett Gomez and, until recently, Umberto Rispoli, who was riding Rock Your World.

Rosario was aiming for a Derby ride with Concert Tour, trained by Bob Baffert. But when Concert Tour ran poorly at the Arkansas Derby, Baffert steered him away from Louisville. That freed up Rosario for John Sadler, Rock Your World's trainer. Rosario and Sadler have teamed for 247 victories, 34 of them in graded stakes, and nearly $21 million. With Anderson as a conduit, Rosario is on Rock Your World Saturday and Rispoli is out, a decision that Sadler called “agonizing.”

“These are business situations,” Anderson said. “I remember what D. Wayne Lukas would tell riders who would win a race and want to get back on the horse: 'These are one-race contracts, my boy.' Harry Silbert was Willie Shoemaker's agent, and they worked for 36 years on a handshake.”

Agents only represent two jocks at a time. Velasquez had been the regular rider for Malathaat, the favorite in Friday's Kentucky Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. He was riding Medina Spirit for Baffert in the Santa Anita Derby (and losing to Rispoli and Rock Your World), so Rosario took over Malathaat and won the Ashland Stakes. When it came time for the Oaks, trainer Todd Pletcher reached back for Velasquez.

“Joel totally understood,” Anderson said.

It's a long way from Mt. San Antonio College, and Anderson's goal of attending UCLA law. But he was a racetrack regular, and agent Chick McClellan gave him Toro's account, and Toro became Anderson's racetrack professor.

“Ronnie is successful because he's smarter than anyone else,” Bailey said. “He's able to interpret the data from the numbers, speed numbers, patterns. If your agent is wrong, it can cost you a lot of money. Maybe $5,000 in an allowance race, but maybe a million in a big race.

“Some agents will say, what do you have for me? Ronnie has already done the homework and says, 'I want horses A, C and F in races 1, 6 and 9.'”

On Saturday Anderson will sit back and watch Rosario and Velazquez and the others become the biggest men in the world. On Sunday he'll bury himself in charts and numbers again.

All days means money to racetrack people, but Anderson knows and understands why one day matters more.

“You tell somebody you're in racing and the first thing they want to know is, did you win the Derby?” he said. “That's the one that lasts forever.”

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NBC Sports Presents Five Hours Of Live Coverage From Kentucky Derby 147

NBC Sports presents the 147th Kentucky Derby this Saturday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC live from Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Road to the Triple Crown begins this week, highlighted by NBC's live five-hour Kentucky Derby Day telecast this Saturday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET. NBC Sports kicks off more than 13 hours of Kentucky Derby Week action this Friday, April 30 with live coverage of the Kentucky Oaks beginning at Noon ET on NBCSN. Saturday's live Derby coverage begins with Kentucky Derby Prep at Noon ET on NBCSN. In total, NBC Sports will televise 17 live races.

This weekend's Derby marks the 20th anniversary of NBC Sports' first Kentucky Derby coverage in 2001, which was won by Monarchos. NBC Sports reporters Donna Brothers and Kenny Rice have covered the Kentucky Derby every year for NBC since 2001. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of analyst Jerry Bailey's Kentucky Derby win on Grindstone in 1996.

The 2021 Kentucky Derby features likely favorite Essential Quality, who was named 2020's Champion two-year-old male and is undefeated in his career, and this year's Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie. With a win in this year's Kentucky Derby, Bob Baffert – who trains Medina Spirit in Saturday's field – would earn his seventh career Derby victory, breaking a tie with Ben Jones for the most ever by a trainer.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Group's coverage of the Kentucky Derby features host Mike Tirico, who is hosting Derby coverage for the fifth time; analysts Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey and two-time Kentucky Derby winner, and Randy Moss; handicapper/reporter Eddie Olczyk; host/reporter Ahmed Fareed; reporters Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, and Laffit Pincay III; and race caller Larry Collmus.

NBC Sports' Jac Collinsworth makes his Kentucky Derby debut as a reporter from Churchill Downs, and four-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross will join NBC Sports' 2021 Kentucky Derby coverage as a lifestyle and fashion correspondent. Steve Kornacki, NBC News' and MSNBC's celebrated national political correspondent, will join NBC Sports' 2021 Kentucky Derby coverage as an insights analyst.

The coordinating producer of NBC's horse racing coverage is Rob Hyland, who has been a part of the network's horse racing coverage since 2001. The Kentucky Derby is directed by Drew Esocoff. The coverage on NBCSN is produced by Billy Matthews and directed by Kaare Numme. Executive producer and president, production, NBC Sports and NBCSN is Sam Flood.

Highlights of Kentucky Derby coverage Saturday on NBC include:

  • Five live races in the NBC Kentucky Derby show (nine live races in Saturday's full coverage)
  • Mike Tirico's championship discussion with Bill Belichick, six-time Super Bowl winner as New England Patriots head coach, and Bob Baffert, six-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer
  • Tirico's one-on-one discussion with Baffert, who is aiming to become the winningest trainer in Kentucky Derby history
  • Feature on the family of trainer Steve Asmussen, who trains Super Stock and Midnight Bourbon in this year's Derby field. Keith Asmussen, Steve's father, co-owns Super Stock
  • Jac Collinsworth tells the story of Kentucky Derby qualifier Hot Rod Charlie and his connections, highlighting five Brown University football teammates who made the initial $110,000 investment in the horse
  • Tim Layden essays, including one on Canonero II, who had one of the biggest Derby upsets 50 years ago, rallying from 18th place to win the 1971 Kentucky Derby by 3¾ lengths
  • Tom Hammond's retrospective as NBC Sports marks the 20th anniversary of its first Kentucky Derby coverage
  • For the first time, a live drone and two live jockey cam systems will be utilized in Derby coverage (among 50 total cameras)
  • NBC Sports' backstretch bat cam returns for the first time since 2019, offering a perspective from 15-18 feet above the track and traveling up to 80 mph
  • A camera focused on race caller Larry Collmus
  • NBC Sports EDGE's Matt Bernier to provide betting-focused articles and video previews throughout the week
  • NBC Sports EDGE's new sports betting-focused podcast, 'Bet the Edge,' hosted by Sara Perlman, launched today and will have daily Kentucky Derby segments throughout the week. Click here to listen to the debut episode as Eddie Olczyk joins the show to discuss handicapping Saturday's Kentucky Derby

NBC SPORTS GROUP TRIPLE CROWN COVERAGE (All Times ET):

KENTUCKY DERBY
Date Time Event Network
Fri., April 30 Noon Kentucky Oaks NBCSN
Sat., May 1 Noon Kentucky Derby Prep NBCSN
Sat., May 1 2:30 p.m. Kentucky Derby NBC
PREAKNESS STAKES
Date Time Event Network
Fri., May 14 5 p.m. Black-Eyed Susan Stakes NBCSN
Sat., May 15 2 p.m. Preakness Prep NBCSN
Sat., May 15 5 p.m. Preakness Stakes NBC
BELMONT STAKES
Date Time Event Network
Fri., June 4 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes Access NBCSN
Sat., June 5 3 p.m. Belmont Stakes Prep NBCSN
Sat., June 5 5 p.m. Belmont Stakes
NBC

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Rosario, Saez Feasting On Stakes Diet At Keeneland

On Saturday's second day of the Keeneland Spring Meet in Lexington, Ky., jockeys Joel Rosario and Luis Saez combined to win nine races on the 11-race program and continue their domination of the young season. The two riders accounted for all nine stakes.

After two days of the Spring Meet, Rosario leads jockeys with seven wins, and Saez is second with six victories.

Rosario rode five winners Saturday, including four consecutive stakes: the Commonwealth (G3) on Flagstaff, Shakertown (G2) on Bound for Nowhere, Central Bank Ashland (G1) on Malathaat and Madison (G1) on Kimari. On Friday, he captured two stakes: the Palisades Turf Sprint with Chasing Artie and the Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3) on Scarlett Sky.

“Thank you to everyone: Wesley Ward, Todd Pletcher, everyone else who gave me an opportunity,” said Rosario about his performance Saturday in which he rode in nine races. “It was an amazing day. I thought I had some chances to win but you never know, so it's just great to have the opportunities and be able to win.”

Rosario joins Jerry Bailey (1999) and Javier Castellano (2016) as riders with a record six stakes victories during a Spring Meet. If he wins one of the 10 stakes remaining this season, Rosario will take sole possession of the Spring Meet record.

During the 2013 Spring Meet when he won a season record 38 races, Rosario also had two five-win days. He shares the five-win mark in the Spring Meet with five other jockeys.

The Spring Meet record for wins on one day is six, an achievement for three jockeys: Craig Perret (1990), Randy Romero (1990) and Julien Leparoux (2012).

On Friday, Saez rode Twenty Carat to win the Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select. On Saturday, he won four races topped by the Toyota Blue Grass (G2) on Essential Quality and the Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association on Jouster.

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NBC Sports To Provide Exclusive Coverage Of Saturday’s Louisiana Derby

With the Kentucky Derby less than 50 days away, NBCSN presents exclusive live coverage of the $1 million Louisiana Derby this Saturday, March 20 at 6 p.m. ET from Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Louisiana Derby kicks off NBC Sports' “Road to the Kentucky Derby” coverage on four consecutive Saturday afternoons on NBCSN. NBC Sports will present the 147th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Exactly six weeks ahead of the May 1 running of the Kentucky Derby, the grade 2 Louisiana Derby marks the first prep race awarding Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 100-40-20-10 scale for the top four finishers. John Velazquez, who rode 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, rides Proxy (7-2) in the eight-horse field.

Britney Eurton hosts Saturday's coverage, alongside analysts Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey who has twice won the Louisiana Derby, and Randy Moss.

Saturday's coverage will include an interview with trainer Bob Baffert from his barn at Santa Anita as he prepares several top contenders for the Kentucky Derby. With a win in this year's Derby, Baffert would earn his seventh career Kentucky Derby victory, breaking a tie with Ben Jones for the most ever by a trainer.

NBCSN will also present the Fair Grounds Oaks on Saturday, one of the major prep races on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks.”

Coverage will be streamed live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs.

Following is NBC Sports' upcoming “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep race schedule on NBCSN:

Race

Date

Time (ET)

Louisiana Derby

Sat., March 20

6 p.m.

Florida Derby

Sat., March 27

6 p.m.

Wood Memorial, Bluegrass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby

Sat., April 3

5:30 p.m.

Arkansas Derby

Sat., April 10

7 p.m.

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