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Hot Rod Charlie: ‘Blue-Collar’ Horse Goes From 94-1 Shot To Pennsylvania Derby Favorite

No one gave Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing and Gainesway Stables' Hot Rod Charlie a second look when he ran in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November. The speedy son of Oxbow was given two chances to win that prize: none and none.

Hot Rod Charlie was dismissed at odds of 94-1 that day and ended up finishing second, three quarters of a length behind Essential Quality.

It was a sign of things to come.

“That was pretty incredible,” trainer Doug O'Neill said about the Juvenile. “It sounds pretty obvious, but that is the thing that sent us on our way. It really set the tone for what has happened this year.”

With the sudden defection of Medina Spirit from the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, Hot Rod Charlie is the new morning-line favorite at odds of 8-5.

Saturday will be his first race since the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 17. In that race, Hot Rod Charlie was the first horse across the finish line but was disqualified and placed last after Midnight Bourbon clipped heels with him in the stretch.

Before that, Hot Rod Charlie and jockey Flavien Prat ran a courageous race in the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont, finishing second behind Essential Quality.

In five starts this year, Hot Rod Charlie has one win — the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby — to go along with a third in the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby.

“He has shown up in every big race we have had him in,” O'Neill said. “He has been very honest and, gosh, I just feel so lucky and blessed to be connected with him, He is just a real cool, blue-collar, solid horse.”

After the Haskell, Hot Rod Charlie went back to O'Neill's base in California and the trainer decided he would let the horse tell him when he was ready to go again.

“He needed a couple of weeks after the Haskell,” O'Neill said. “He had to get his bearings about him and get his energy back to where we wanted it to be. As I started breezing him, I just let him go easy, and the last couple of works we have asked him for a little bit of run. He has responded in normal Charlie fashion.”

Hot Rod Charlie arrived at Parx along with the popular Hall of Famer Lava Man, who serves as the colt's pony, last Saturday.

“He seems to be coming into the Pennsylvania Derby in good shape,” O'Neill said. “I am a big fan of Bensalem and I'm pumped to be going into their signature race with a live chance.”

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Northview Stallion Station’s Richard Golden Dies At Age 82

Richard L. Golden, who led Northview Stallion Station to national prominence for over three decades, died of natural causes in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 18. He was 82.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Golden made his fortune in the garment industry in New York and turned his attention to the Thoroughbred industry. He purchased an undeveloped property in Chesapeake City, Md., in 1986 and created Sycamore Hall Farm, which turned out dozens of stakes winners. In 2016, he was the breeder of three Maryland-bred champions – Giant Run, Greatbullsoffire and Top Striker – and in 2018 was named Maryland Breeder of the Year.

Golden was one of the founders of Northview Stallion Station, located just a mile down the road from his Sycamore Hall Farm. When Windfields Farm, the anchor of the state's breeding industry, shut down abruptly in 1988, Golden, Allaire duPont, and Tom Bowman stepped in to keep a number of the stallions in the state. Northview opened in 1989, on the site of Windfields Farm's former Northview annex, before moving to the main farm and present location in 1991.

As president and CEO of Northview, Golden was able to retain Windfields sires Smarten, Caveat and Two Punch to stand in the region, and made a mark with new arrivals that included Waquoit, Polish Numbers, Private Terms and Not For Love, the latter Maryland's Stallion of the Year 13 times. Since 1989, Northview stallions have earned the title of Maryland Stallion of the Year 24 times. Great Notion, who entered stud at Northview in 2005, has been Stallion of the Year each of the past five years.

Golden had a love for animals which was shared by his late wife, Ann, who passed away in 2015, as well as his children Lisa and Michael. He contributed to many different charities including becoming a Distinguished Grand Founder at Jupiter Medical Center and a supporter of Friends of Israel Disabled Veterans.

He is survived by his son Michael and daughter and son-in-law Lisa and Gregg Hofstetter and two grandchildren Sam and Ben.

Dr. Michael Golden, a small animal veterinarian in Crofton, Md., is the current vice-president of Northview Stallion Station.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Golden's memory to Beyond the Wire a charity helping support retiring race horses.

Due to ongoing public health concerns, graveside services will be private and Shiva will not be observed.

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Bloodlines: Looking Back On A Classic Trio From Keeneland September A Decade Later

With the end of the Keeneland September yearling sale clearly in view for Friday, readers and buyers can pause to reflect on sales past and the classic season from 10 years ago when all three Triple Crown winners walked the path of the Keeneland pagoda through the September sale of 2009.

Yes, each of the 2011 Triple Crown races – the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes – went to a different September sale yearling, and all of them were chestnuts too.

The sales season of 2009, however, was not the bustling and booming market we have seen at Keeneland, and elsewhere, this year. Instead, 2009 was the first yearling sale season fully impacted by the global economic crisis and Great Recession that began in 2008.

As a direct result, prices for some of the better yearlings were lower than expected, but two of our subject horses – Animal Kingdom and Ruler On Ice – brought $100,000 when put through the Keeneland auction. And the third, Shackleford, brought the highest hammer price of the trio at $275,000 but was bought back by breeders Mike Lauffer and Bill Cubbedge.

A big, rangy chestnut with a “turf” pedigree, Animal Kingdom (by 2005 turf champion Leroidesanimaux) was bred by a Team Valor partnership and was consigned by Denali Stud. The buyer was another Barry Irwin partnership under the banner of Team Valor International. The colt's results were surely the best for any Team Valor partnership because Animal Kingdom was a truly world-class racer at 10 furlongs, and he won the Kentucky Derby at three and the Dubai World Cup at five.

In contrast to those who previously had perceived the colt as a turf horse, the Derby is raced on dirt, and the World Cup was on the synthetic track at Meydan in 2013.

In between those two victories, Animal Kingdom had suffered a cracked hind cannon in the Belmont Stakes, was laid off for the rest of his 3-year-old season, and had a recurrence of a bone crack after his 4-year-old season debut. Then, Animal Kingdom showed what a truly versatile animal can do.

After more than six months away from racing, the big chestnut returned to Grade 1 competition in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Mile on turf at Santa Anita. Sent off a little-considered 10-1, Animal Kingdom rallied like a champion and finished second to turf champion Wise Dan.

Following the World Cup victory in 2013, Animal Kingdom was retired at the midpoint of his 5-year-old season to enter stud in Australia, having earned $8.3 million. He retired to stud at Arrowfield in Australia and shuttled to Darley at Jonabell in Kentucky. In October 2019, Animal Kingdom was sold to the Japan Bloodstock Breeders' Association and now stands in Japan.

At the same 2012 Breeders' Cup, Shackleford (Forestry) raced in the G1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, where he finished seventh. The previous year, Shackleford had been second in the Dirt Mile, and earlier in 2012, the prancing chestnut had won the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

The flashy grandson of Storm Cat had personality plus, making him a favorite with fans, and he had denied Animal Kingdom's closing rush in the 2011 Preakness to prevail by a half-length. Amazingly enough, the Preakness was the first stakes victory for Shackleford, although he had been second in the G1 Florida Derby earlier in the year.

After the Preakness, Shackleford finished second in the G1 Haskell, likewise the BC Dirt Mile, then won the Metropolitan at four and ended his career with victory in the G1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in 2012.

A winner of $3 million, Shackelford retired to stud in Kentucky at Darby Dan Farm in 2013 and, in 2020, was sold to the Korean Racing Authority to stand at stud in South Korea.

Just as Shackleford had done in the Preakness, Ruler On Ice (by the Fusaichi Pegasus stallion Roman Ruler) won his first stakes in the classic Belmont Stakes. Amazingly enough, it proved the only stakes the gelding ever won.

Bred in Kentucky like the two other winners of the 2011 Triple Crown races, Ruler On Ice was bred by Liberation Farm and Brandywine Farm, then sold at the September sale to George and Lori Hall.

Stakes-placed coming into the Belmont against the winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Ruler On Ice was a genuine longshot to win the Belmont, and only two of the 12 racers were at odds longer than his 24.75 to 1. One of those, Isn't He Perfect, broke to the inside sharply at the start, pushing Mucho Macho Man into race favorite Animal Kingdom, who came out of the race with an injury.

Ruler On Ice tracked the pacesetting Shackleford from the start, and when the Preakness winner tired after 10 furlongs, the son of Roman Ruler took control and held off Stay Thirsty to win by three-quarters of a length.

Subsequently, Ruler On Ice was third in the G1 Haskell, fourth in the Travers, second in the Pennsylvania Derby, and third in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Those performances confirmed the racer's quality, and he raced to the midpoint of his 5-year-old season. Retired, he now lives on the farm of his owners near Versailles, Ky.

As with the classics a decade ago, when we look back on the September sale of 2021, someone may very well have taken home a classic winner.

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Lesson Horses Presented By John Deere Equine Discount Program: Jonathan And Ashley Horowitz On Churchita

You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.

In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.

Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?

Ashley Horowitz, Super G Sporthorses: “Chita” has helped me with being kind and patient. When I got her, she was barely three years old, and she just did everything. Everything was easy for her, and by four years old, she was teaching people how to ride.

Then, while I was teaching them on her, I'd say, “You did that, now you should be able to do this on her,” and they didn't have as quick a learning curve as she did. She never cared that they were messing up, and however long it took, she just went with the flow.

To sit back and take guidance from your horse, who's teaching these kids how to ride…if it took them longer to figure out how to go over a jump and not pop the horse in the face, she just absorbed that and was okay with it. She's just been so steady and easy with so many different types of riders, so many different ages and emotions.

She was even-keeled through all of it, and I haven't always been that way. I've gotten that way in my teaching, but I'll get tough and get results out of people, but definitely when I was younger, before, I'd say, “This is what I expect from you, and we're going to make this happen.” You're not always going to get that to work. Seeing how steady and consistent she is at all times is pretty impressive, and is definitely something most people should aspire to.

A lot of people talk about their perfect lesson horses that have been doing this for years, and they're so awesome, and they're 25 or so. Chita's 10. She's been doing this since she was four years old, so she's got a lot of years under her belt, but she started this amazing. A lot of times, the good lesson horses have decades in their pocket. She's only 10 years old, and she's already influenced so many people, and helped so many people learn how to ride.

Ashley Horowitz and Churchita

Jonathan Horowitz, Announcer at Arapahoe Park: I wanted to evolve from being someone that just talks about horses to getting to spend time around them, to ride them, and to ultimately be able to make a difference by working with these horses after they retire. It's changed my entire approach to horse racing, and frankly, my entire life.

To have a horse like Chita be the horse that I learn from gave me the opportunity to learn to ride and event on Thoroughbreds. From that experience, I've been able to work with other horses off the track, and really feel like I can make a difference for a cause that is important to me, in a sport and with athletes that have given me so much. Now, I get to play a role and give back, and if I didn't have a horse with Chita's disposition, I don't think I would be in the same position that I'm at. It took a really unique Thoroughbred to give me a chance to learn on Thoroughbreds, and then be able to start to take those steps with the horses that I'm now working with coming off the track.

Jonathan Horowitz and Churchita

About Churchita
(2011, m., Churchhill x Slewita, by Tsunami Slew)

Churchita was bred in Texas by Laurie Rosenwasser, who dispersed her breeding stock before the large filly entered training.

She was listed on the CANTER Texas website, where she first caught the attention of Ashley Horowitz, but Churchita instead sold to an owner in California. Shortly after the transaction, the filly was listed for sale again, and Horowitz jumped at the opportunity, bringing Churchita to her Colorado base. Churchita was already a towering 16.3 hands tall as a 3-year-old, but Horowitz said she hasn't grown since then.

Churchita is currently pregnant for the first time, after being bred to Easter Man, Arabian racing's 2019 Horse of the Year. Not content with living a sedentary life as a pregnant mare, she still gives lessons to young riders as she awaits her foal.

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