Angie and John Rodriguez had not anticipated adding a stallion operation for at least another year to the North Texas farm they opened in early 2024. They already had their hands full putting in a new training track and adding barns.
Then trainer Danny Pate cold-called them and said he had a stallion that needed a home—graded-placed stakes winner O Besos , who ran a good fifth in the 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) and got moved up to fourth with the disqualification of Medina Spirit. The top four finishers in that year's Derby are an impressive group that includes multiple grade 1 winner Mandaloun, four-time graded stakes winner Hot Rod Charlie (also second in the Belmont Stakes, G1), and Essential Quality, a four-time grade 1 winner and 2020 champion 2-year-old colt.
O Besos' co-owners Terry Stephens and Dr. Barrett Bernard, who bred O Besos, were new to the stallion game and after getting some straight talk about the investment required to get a stallion off the ground, asked the Rodriguezs if they wanted to buy the 7-year-old son of Orb outright. They did.
"We were not looking for a stallion, but he has a tremendous race record, and I think maybe he didn't get every opportunity to show us his best," said Angie Rodriguez, a third-generation horsewoman. "I felt that if we were the ones going to provide the majority of the good stakes mares to him, then we might as well own him."
Rodriguez said she was attracted to O Besos' versatility and speed, winning at distances between 5 1/2-furlongs and 1 1/16 miles. He earned triple-digit Equibase Speed Figures in three stakes in which he either won or placed. In his final start last May, he won the six-furlong St. Matthews Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs in 1:08.72and earned a 101 ESF. He earned a career high ESF of 109 in winning a 2022 allowance/optional claiming race at Fair Ground Race Course & Slots going 1 1/16 miles.
"He is a very balanced horse, and I love the way he moves. He also is so good-minded and kind," Rodriguez said. "We know this horse has speed, too, so I think we'll be breeding him to Thoroughbred mares and Quarter Horse mares. I've talked to some people who believe it will work."
O Besos enters stud this year with a $2,500 fee.
The Rodriguezs own Roja Loca Ranch, near Crowell, Texas, a small town that would sit near the midpoint on a line drawn from Fort Worth to Amarillo and that is about 30 miles south of the Texas-Oklahoma state line. The horse operation is on 275 acres of a 4,500-acre spread that is also used for cattle.
Like Angie, John Rodgriguez is a third-generation horseman who spent his growing up years at racetracks around El Paso, Texas, and throughout New Mexico. His father was a jockey and John has galloped, trained, and worked as an outrider around the Southwest. Angie's father, Jerry Henson, and grandfather, Lee Ivey, were both Thoroughbred trainers. Henson trained Hula Blaze, who won the 1985 San Pasquel Handicap (G2) and 1983 Land of Enchantment Derby, and Mr. Twice Worth, who won the 1984 Land of Enchantment Derby.
"We have started training so many horses for clients that we decided it was time for us to open our own farm," said Angie. "It made sense for us and everything fell into place."
Bernard bred O Besos out of a Soto daughter named Snuggs and Kisses, who he raced initially in partnership with trainer Carl Potts. Snuggs and Kisses would improve with age and become a stakes winner at 4, 5, and 6. She won consecutive runners of the Kachina Handicap in 2011-12 at Turf Paradise and won the 2013 Bayou Handicap at Fair Grounds.
Though Snuggs and Kisses was her dam's only stakes winner, her family showed her potential as a broodmare having produced multiple graded stakes winner Miss Unnameable, grade 2 winner Quick Card, graded-placed multiple stakes winner Sea to See, and multiple stakes winner La Sorpresa.
O Besos is Snuggs and Kisses' only stakes winner, though she has produced two other stakes-placed winners in Transatlantic Kiss (Stormy Atlantic) and Six Percent (Central Banker ). Bernard started racing O Besos with Tagg Team Racing and over time added West Point Thoroughbreds and Terry Stephens to the ownership group. With trainer Greg Foley, O Besos compiled a 5-3-2 record from 17 starts and earned $760,929.
O Besos is the first black-type stakes winner bred by Bernard.
"Though we were not looking for a stallion yet, Dr. B loves this horse, and he wanted to make sure he went to a good home," said Angie Rodriguez. "We have 15 mares that are all going to O Besos and are actively looking for more. I believe the horse has a real shot."
