Michele Rodriguez

Elio Barrera captured the first riding title of his young career and Juan Larrosa fended off a number of challengers in a tightly contested trainer's race at the Evangeline Downs Thoroughbred meet which concluded Saturday. Michele Rodriguez's Elite Thoroughbred Racing repeated as the meet's leading owner. Barrera, a 22-year-old from Guatemala in his second full season of riding, finished the season with 80 wins from 420 mounts at the meet which opened Apr. 5. He was one of five riders to eclipse the million-dollar mark in purse earnings, topping the...

Secret Circle (Eddington--Ragtime Hope, by Dixieland Band), who achieved the rare feat of winning multiple Breeders' Cup races, will relocate to Michele Rodriguez's Elite Thoroughbreds in Louisiana, it was announced Monday. The deal was brokered by Chad Schumer of Schumer Bloodstock. Trained by Bob Baffert, Secret Circle was perfect in three starts at two, capped by a victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint, but successfully carried his speed around two turns at three, winning the GIII Southwest S. and GII Rebel S. before finishing second to stablemate Bodemeister (Empire...