Hot Rod Charlie Prepares for Belmont

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 under Flavien Prat at 7:45 a.m. at Santa Anita Saturday morning in preparation for the June 5 GI Belmont S. The colt worked in tandem with SW Liam's Pride (Liam's Map).

“I was very happy with the breeze,” said trainer Doug O'Neill. “I got him in 1:01 and out [six furlongs] in 1:13 and change.”

The winner of the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 20, the dark bay most recently finished third at 5-1 odds in the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Prat, winner of last week's GI Preakness S. with Rombauer (Twirling Candy), is expected to be reunited with Hot Rod Charlie for the 1 1/2-mile Classic.

“He looked great,” added O'Neill. “If all goes well, he'll breeze again here Friday and get on a plane [to New York] on Saturday.”

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Lukas Looking To Even Score With Baffert In Preakness 146

Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas will attempt to win a record-tying seventh Preakness Stakes (G1) as he runs Christina Baker and Bill Mack's 3-year-old Ram in the 146th running of the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown next Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md.

A victory would pull the 85-year-old Lukas even with Bob Baffert and 19th century Mid-Atlantic training icon Robert Wyndham Walden as the winningest Preakness trainers. Lukas' first Preakness came in 1980 with his first Triple Crown starter, Codex. His last came in 2013 with Oxbow, whose Preakness victory gave Lukas the lead in Triple Crown races-won with 14, a number his pal Baffert blew by in 2015 with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who coincidentally is Ram's sire. (Medina Spirit's victory in the 2021 Derby upped Baffert's Triple Crown total to 17 wins.)

Lukas said he and Mack made the decision to run Ram in the Preakness during a phone conversation Friday evening. Ram won his second-straight race while taking the mile allowance race that kicked off the May 1 Kentucky Derby (G1) card at Churchill Downs. Ricardo Santana Jr. picks up the mount.

“We realize he has to step forward to be effective,” Lukas said Saturday morning after Ram trained at Churchill Downs. “But when these horses are doing well, sometimes they'll step up and do what you want them to do. I always thought this horse had potential. He was immature; he's a May 13 foal. I bought him as a yearling. I liked him then. He was a little bit feminine, which I like. I gave him plenty of time, waiting for him to come around.”

If Ram should pull off the shocker in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, it would be Lukas' biggest upset in a long career where he's made some champions by taking chances. Ram, a $375,000 yearling, won on his eighth attempt, coming in a $50,000 maiden-claiming race at Oaklawn Park.

Still, consider that Charismatic, Lukas' 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, twice ran in $62,500 claiming races, including when the horse broke his maiden on his sixth attempt, before blossoming into a dual-classic winner. Charismatic was running in stakes races, including taking Keeneland's Lexington (G2), before his Derby triumph at 31-1 odds. The Preakness will be Ram's first start in a stakes.

Lukas long has been an ambassador for the Preakness, extolling the atmosphere and Maryland Jockey Club's hospitality.

“I don't know if it's the camaraderie of all being in same barn, it just seems that people loosen up a little bit,” he said. “Take a little off their fastball for that one. They don't get so caught up like the Derby. It seems like everybody exhales after the Derby. It's just fun.

“… I don't have any grandiose ideas, but I think I could surprise some people how well this horse runs,” Lukas added. “I think the horses that ran in the Derby had a hard race. Ram had the most perfect prep for the Preakness you could have. He rated kindly behind those horses, circled them five, six wide and went off and won. Now whether that equates to a big Preakness, I don't know. But I wouldn't change a thing about his prep. I know it moved him forward. He's a better horse after that race. That entered my thinking big time…. And Santana is a strong finisher, and I think that will help me.”

Lukas said he plans to van Ram and his pony Riff to Baltimore on Monday. As usual, Lukas will be riding shotgun and keeping the satellite radio tuned to Willie's Roadhouse. Speaking of On the Road Again …

“I don't know how many more of these I'll have,” Lukas said, adding with a big smile, “But I do have a good 2-year-old.”

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Early Impressions: Kentucky Derby 147–Part II

LOUISVILLE, KY – With the first Saturday in May just days away, TDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack caught up with the connections of leading GI Kentucky Derby contenders to get some of their 'Early Impressions.' In this edition, we check in with Hermitage Farm General Manager Bill Landes and Ocala, Florida, horseman Eddie Woods.

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) found another gear in the stretch to punch his ticket to Louisville in the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby. Last year's 94-1 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up, a $17,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February yearling turned $110,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall yearling pinhook by Bob and Sean Feld, is a product of the late Edward A. Cox, Jr.'s breeding program. The half-brother to champion sprinter Mitole (Eskendereya) was bred and raised on Cox's behalf by Hermitage Farm. Cox purchased Hot Rod Charlie's second dam, the unbeaten SW Glacken's Gal (Smoke Glacken), for $250,000 at the 2008 KEEJAN sale. After bringing $240,000 from WinStar at the 2018 KEENOV Sale, Hot Rod Charlie's dam Indian Miss (Indian Charlie) brought $1.9 million from OXO Equine, in foal to leading sire Into Mischief, at the 2020 KEENOV sale. Two-time  Kentucky Derby winning-trainer Doug O'Neill trains Hot Rod Charlie for Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing and William Strauss.

Known Agenda (Curlin) has really taken his game to the next level since adding blinkers for Todd Pletcher in two starts this term, headed by a powerful performance in the GI Curlin Florida Derby. The St. Elias homebred, out of GI Vanity H. heroine Byrama (GB) (Byron {GB}), RNA'd for $135,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling. Byrama was acquired privately by St. Elias after RNA'ing for $725,000 at the 2013 KEENOV sale. With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a wrench into the 2-year-old sales schedule last spring, the chestnut, originally ticketed for the canceled Gulfstream Sale with consignor Eddie Woods, was instead held on to by his breeder Vinnie Viola and taken to the races. Last year's GI Kentucky Derby/GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year Authentic was a graduate of Woods's training program. Woods also trained and pinhooked 2008 Derby winner Big Brown ($60,000 FTKOCT yearling turned $190,000 KEEAPR 2yo).

HOT ROD CHARLIE:

“This guy early on was beset with gastrointestinal issues–maybe three days of age–and then again in the summer of his foal year, and had to go to the clinic two times for treatment, and therefore he was setback, physically. When we got him straight, Mr. Cox had already decided to disperse at Keeneland November, but was gonna take the worst of it with this guy pushing him there. We were all in agreement, and I said, 'Let's just pass and I'll get him sold.' I tried to sell him privately and then eventually the Fasig February deadline came and we had to find a home for him and that's where we were.

I can tell you this, from that October of his weanling year, however, he was not going backwards, he was progressing, but he was just behind. But every step he was making was forward. And that's what I told the Felds when they bought him [at Fasig February] and that's what I told everybody that I tried to sell him to, that he was heading the right way that his gastrointestinal issues were taken care of.

His record speaks for itself, he really hasn't looked back from that fall. Everything has been positive and forward. I told the Felds after they bought him, 'You guys stole another one.' He was always a solid colt.”

Looking back now, did Hot Rod Charlie remind you of his now-famous half-brother Mitole at all?

“It was too early to tell. Mitole was pretty straightforward. We didn't have this horse long enough for me to make that impression. To the people that I tried to sell Hot Rod privately to, I did say that he had a half brother that looks well above average.

The sad part of it all is Ed Cox would've absolutely been thrilled following Mitole and Hot Rod Charlie. Oh my God. He wouldn't have bragged. He wouldn't have patted himself on the back to the point he needed Tommy John Surgery. He wouldn't have done that. He would've taken quiet delight that he was the breeder of two really nice horses.

I'm sorry he missed it. We sold Hot Rod in February and Ed died in March. I'm sad about that.” –Bill Landes

KNOWN AGENDA:

“He was a really laid-back horse–a very quiet, good-moving horse. He was pointing to the [Gulfstream] sale, but it was questionable whether he had enough speed to be a proper 2-year-old sale horse. I don't know if the 2-year-old sales would've been the ideal environment for him. But he always moved good and trained good. He just lacked the little bit of sharp toe. When the sale was canceled, he went into a different program and just went along nicely.

I think in this year's Derby, every one has a chance to be a Derby horse. It's that kind of race. He'll run a good race. He'll be closing and he'll get the trip, which I suspect a lot of them won't. The faster they go, the better off he'll be.

It's great for our program and our team. The one consistency we've seen with the Derby horses and the horses that run well in the Derby is that they're really classy acting. They have great composure and they handle all the turmoil that comes with it– prepping for the Derby and the whole day in itself.

He's incredibly laid back–I spoke with Todd [Pletcher] at one of the 2-year-old sales about him and he said he's the same now as he was then.” –Eddie Woods

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O’Neill On Winning The Kentucky Derby: ‘It Is All Horse Driven’

Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie had his penultimate Kentucky Derby (G1)  workout at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Saturday, going six furlongs under Flavien Prat in 1:14.20 as the son of Oxbow prepares for his Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on May 1.

Doug O'Neill hopes the third time's the charm, even though the 52-year-old trainer has captured the world's most famous race twice before, with I'll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016.

But it never gets old.

Hot Rod Charlie is sitting on go with 110 Kentucky Derby qualifying polnts and Prat committed as his rider. Hot Rod Charlie is scheduled to have his final major Derby breeze next Saturday at Santa Anita.

“Now it's day to day to day, keep him injury free and keep moving forward,” O'Neill said. “I would think having gone through the Derby twice before is an advantage.

“It is all horse driven, based on who you're going there with, but we're very optimistic with Hot Rod Charlie. He's already shown he can ship and perform well at the highest level.

“We're excited, and the previous experience definitely is a benefit, I would think.”

As to the origin of the colt's name, O'Neill attributes it in part to the dam's sire. “He's out of a mare (Indian Miss) by Indian Charlie, so I think that's where it comes from, but Hot Rod?

“I'm not sure about that, but for us it's got a good ring to it.”

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