LAUREL, MD. 09-24-08---The Laurel Park jocks room welcomed back a familiar face this afternoon but another well-known personality will be taking a hiatus for the balance of the year.

Erick Rodriguez, who missed four months after breaking two ribs and puncturing a lung in a spill at Pimlico, returned today with a pair of fifth place finishes (Rocco-third) and (June Tune-seventh).

“I feel really good and am ready to go,” said Rodriguez, who has been a top ten rider in Maryland since 2003. “My agent (Paul Plymire) and I are working hard in the morning going barn to barn and everybody seems happy to see me. Hopefully business will pick up quickly.”

The 28-year-old scored the first graded win of his career in April when he guided Ryan’s For Real to victory in the Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap (Grade III) at Hawthorne for trainer Dale Capuano. His biggest local score is a win aboard multiple Grade I winner Precious Kitten in the $200,000 Martha Washington Handicap at Laurel on September 30, 2006.

Meanwhile, Horacio Karamanos will be leaving after next Saturday’s Maryland Million day to take care of “a family situation” in his native Argentina. Since arriving in Maryland in 2002, Karamanos has won 742 races at Laurel Park and Pimlico with three riding titles.

“I am not sure of the timetable. It could be three, four or five months,” said Karamanos, who rode a career-best seven winners at Laurel on October 26, 2002. “I’ll be back by the spring meet.”

While in Argentina, the 35-year-old will ride at San Isidro Racecourse in Buenos Aires. Karamanos was the top rider at San Isidro before relocating to the Unites States earlier this decade. San Isidro is one of the featured tracks on the Latin American Racing Channel, which is simulcast daily with the Maryland Jockey Club as the hub.

“San Isidro is my place,” added Karamanos. “But Maryland is now my home.”

Karamanos is serving a suspension this week for a riding infraction that happened earlier this year but agent Kevin Witte has secured multiple Maryland Million mounts for his client, including recent stakes winner Miss Charm City in the Lassie and Off The Glass, the two-time defending champion in the Starter Handicap.


SATURDAY’S CARD DOES NOT INCLUDE A STAKES RACE

When the Maryland Jockey Club announced the reduction of the fall stakes schedule in August, it meant five Saturday cards would not feature an added money race. The first will occur this Saturday, September 27. The other stakes-less Saturday afternoon’s will be October 11, October 18, November 22 and December 6. Saturday’s 10-race card will be highlighted by a pair of allowance tests and three turf races.