It's unlikely that anyone outside of a handful of people remember Rare Rock.
Yet he played an important part in as great a success story as Thoroughbred racing has ever seen.
For it was on April 12, 1996, when a young former D. Wayne Lukas assistant named Todd Pletcher was just starting out as a trainer. He only had four wins to his credit. That day he gave a leg up to a rising 24-year-old rider named John Velazquez on Rare Rock, who was making his career debut in a $35,000 maiden claiming race at Aqueduct Racetrack.
From those humble roots, no one could ever imagined what would take place over the course of the next 29 years.
"I had known Johnny from working with Wayne when he was an apprentice," Pletcher said. "You could see the talent and we were both starting out."
Rare Rock was victorious by 12 lengths on that monumental day as he became the initial victory for a jockey-trainer combination that has dominated the upper level of the sport in an unprecedented fashion.
Today, that jockey and trainer who first bonded in a maiden claimer have won 1,911 races together with a win rate of 26% after nearly three decades and 7,428 rides together.
Beyond that, they have won a mind-boggling 495 stakes together, 314 of them graded stakes, with total of $175,314 725 in earnings from all mounts, figures well beyond any other combination.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Russell Baze had 2,893 wins together, but they came primarily on the Northern California circuit and have just 172 stakes win, only 19 in graded stakes, with earnings of $49.1 million.
"In this game where loyalty is low and jockeys and trainers can get fired on a race-by-race basis, to have this long-term relationship is amazing," said owner Mike Repole, Pletcher's top owner and a part of the Pletcher-Velazquez team since 2010 with the champion Uncle Mo. "The sport is blessed to have Todd Pletcher and Johnny Velazquez at the top of their game after more than 25 years to represent it. With all the negativity and all the B.S. we have to deal with, they are actually undervalued.
"When Johnny leaves this game, I don't know if you will get another jockey like him. He's the greatest of all time. He's the best. A great family man with a great family. Todd is the same way. It's amazing how special they are and they're better people off the track. Everything about them is special."
Perhaps the best sign of how strong the relationship between the two Hall of Famers stands at the moment can be found this weekend at the Breeders' Cup.
Velazquez will be riding for Pletcher in three of the four stakes in which the trainer has horses and they are all 7-2 or lower in the morning line as they seek to add to their total of six wins together at the World Championships.
On Oct. 31 they will team on Tommy Jo (7-2) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Ted Noffey (4-5) in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). The following day, the 53-year-old Velazquez will be aboard Fierceness , the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
"You have to give all the credit to Johnny for the longevity," Pletcher said. "He's kept himself in tremendous physical condition and is riding at an all-time level at this stage of his career, which is remarkable. A trainer can do it for a longer period. I've got to have the horses. But it's not the same as it is for Johnny. I don't have to physically perform like he does."
Velazquez is equally appreciative of the way Pletcher has given him the mount on so many champions and grade 1 winners.
"It's a great partnership with Todd and his team. The trust he and the owners give me is unmatchable. It's a blessing because relationships usually don't last long maybe two or three years and after that the love falls apart," Velazquez said. "The mutual respect is still there. Todd is a great guy to talk with and reads the races so well. It's easy to talk to him, there's so much trust. He's a great trainer and knows I can get the job done. I'm blessed that I have this opportunity. With good horses things become easier."
The best example of how strong of a team they remain came Labor Day weekend when they teamed to win grade 1 stakes on three straight days on both coasts: Fierceness in the Aug. 30 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) at Del Mar, Antiquarian in the Aug. 31 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), and Ted Noffey in the Sept. 1 Hopeful Stakes (G1), the latter two at Saratoga Race Course.
"Todd always finds me horses I can win with," Velazquez said.
Reflective of those wins, Velazquez already has $17.6 million in earnings this year, his highest total since he earned $18.7 million in all of 2019. At a time when a 53-year-old rider would be slowing down, it has become a challenge for Velazquez's agent, Kiaran McLaughlin, to limit his rider's mounts on a daily basis.
"Saturdays are one thing, but I do not want to ride eight or nine races every day. I do not want to insult anyone but I want to give every horse the best ride possible and I do not need to prove anything by riding eight or nine times a day," Velazquez said.
After they have worked together for so long, Repole says there is telepathy between the two. Little needs to be said before a race. Each knows what to expect from the other.
"I'll ask him what he thinks and 99% of the time we're on the same page," Pletcher said. "Very, very few times over all the years have I been disappointed with the ride he has given us. He always shows up. He's always well prepared. He's the best at putting a horse in a position to win and ultimately that's all you want from a jockey."
They reached the apex of the sport together in 2017 when they teamed to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Always Dreaming. Yet for Velazquez it was the first of their two Triple Crown wins with Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes (G1) that stands out most among those 1,911 wins.
"The Derby win was special. We had both won the Derby with other people. So it was sensational to finally win it together," Velazquez said. "But the Belmont stands out. We had won every prep race but we didn't get a Triple Crown race together until Rags to Riches got it done. The way she ran and beat Curlin was spectacular. She stumbled out of the gate and you think the race is over and then to win was incredible."
Like any racetrack combination, Pletcher and Velazquez are not inseparable.
They are each the sport's leader in earnings and their earnings together are about 17% of the $1.02 billion they have cumulatively earned in their careers ($509 million for Velazquez, $513 million for Pletcher).
It's not uncommon to see them competing against each other in a race. And over the course of 29 years, there were periods when they worked in different parts of the country, as in 2020-21 when Velazquez rode on the West Coast and won the Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic for Bob Baffert on Authentic .
During that span, Pletcher and Velazquez won only eight stakes together.
"There was a bit of a lull when we went cold and it was probably the lack of quality horses for both of us," Pletcher said. "It was a good move for him to change gears. He got on some good horses and got his confidence back and has been riding lights out since then."
Baffert agreed that the time apart was beneficial to the relationship.
"He was with Todd and then veered away and I think that was a good thing. When you are using the same rider over and over and you start getting beat, you start wondering if it's the jockey and the owners want to go with one of the young, hot riders. So sometimes a little break is good," Baffert said. "Johnny V. is a Hall of Fame guy who works hard at it, like Mike Smith. They are very smart. Johnny is so good and professional. He will figure out a way. We always root for Johnny and he roots for me. He's a gentleman and a classy guy. When they can't get out of the gate, the end is near. Johnny is still gold out of the gate."
This weekend shows that the end is not near for the sport's greatest jockey-trainer combo. Certainly not in Pletcher's mind.
"I'd love to get 2,000 wins with Johnny," he said.
After what's happened since that day with Rare Rock at the Big A, betting against that happening would not be a wise thing.
