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Hot Rod Charlie Wins 2021 Vox Populi Award

Horse racing fans have spoken, and they have chosen Hot Rod Charlie, the gutsy 3-year-old colt who was a force along the Triple Crown trail, as the winner of the 2021 Secretariat Vox Populi Award. Created by Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery, the award annually recognizes the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the general public and gained recognition for Thoroughbred racing.

Emerging as the favorite among the thousands of fans who voted in the year-end online poll, Hot Rod Charlie started the season as a long shot but consistently showed speed and determination that carried him through the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Hot Rod Charlie is owned in a partnership with Boat Racing LLC, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss. Trained by Doug O'Neill and piloted by Flavien Prat, he was a surprise winner of the Louisiana Derby and later finished third in the Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes, where his blistering fractions in the first quarter-mile rivaled the record-setting pace set in 1973 by Secretariat. Later in the year, Hot Rod Charlie answered an infamous disqualification in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes with a breathtaking comeback in the Pennsylvania Derby, his first graded stakes win.

The Oxbow colt's thrilling performances and his tenacity on the track endeared him to racing fans. Finishing in the money for five of his seven 2021 starts, Hot Rod Charlie tallied more than $2 million in earnings in 2021 and is poised for a sensational 4-year-old season in 2022. Off the track, his owners have donated a portion of Hot Rod Charlie's earnings to causes such as the Melanoma Research Alliance to honor O'Neill family members who had succumbed to the disease, as well as the Folds of Honor Foundation and the Jake Panus Walk-On Football Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of South Carolina.

“Hot Rod Charlie represents the heart and purpose of the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, and his feel-good story and grit as a competitor remind us why we love racing,” said Kate Chenery Tweedy, family historian and daughter of Penny Chenery. “Traditional awards may overlook his accomplishments, but this award celebrates his endearing connection with fans.”

Greg Helm of Roadrunner Racing, representing Hot Rod Charlie's ownership interests, expressed gratitude for the honor, given the talented field of nominees.

“This colt has given our team such an incredible ride this year, and we are overjoyed he has been recognized as the winner of the Vox Populi Award,” Helm said. “We saw something special in him early on, and 'Charlie' has validated that time and time again. It means so much to us that fans have connected with him too.”

Hot Rod Charlie was one of a select group of six nominees submitted by the Vox Populi Committee and presented to thousands of voters in all 50 states and more than 40 countries who spoke as the “Voice of the People” in the Secretariat.com online poll. Other nominees were Echo Zulu, Essential Quality, Knicks Go, Letruska, and Life is Good. Voters also had the option to write in their own favorite candidate to recognize other exceptional horses.

Hot Rod Charlie now joins a list of cherished racing stars who have also received the Vox Populi Award: Authentic (2020), Bricks and Mortar (2019), Winx (2018), Ben's Cat (2017), California Chrome (2016 and 2014), American Pharoah (2015), Mucho Macho Man (2013), Paynter (2012), Rapid Redux (2011), and Zenyatta (inaugural 2010).

The trophy presentation for Hot Rod Charlie's connections is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2022, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., where race fans can also enjoy the official Vox Populi winner's print giveaway and special autograph appearances.

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Letruska, Hot Rod Charlie Get Final Workouts For Breeders’ Cup

St. George Stable's Letruska, the probable favorite for the $2 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff next Saturday, Nov. 6, and Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing LLC, and Gainesway Stable's Hot Rod Charlie, a leading contender for the $6 million Grade 1 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, turned in works over a fast main track at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Saturday morning.

Letruska, trained by Fausto Gutierrez, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20, and shortly afterward, Hot Rod Charlie worked seven furlongs in company in 1:26.80 for trainer Doug O'Neill.

Letruska was scheduled to work on her own, but she picked up some company on the backstretch.

“I was not planning on company; it was not ideal,” said exercise rider Roger Horgan, who was aboard Letruska who stayed to the inside of her unexpected companion. “She did relax. I was a bit concerned, but she switched off and let her do it on her own. I was very proud of her the way she relaxed.”

Gutierrez said Letruska handled the track well, noting that she has handled every track well in a 2021 campaign that has taken her to six tracks previously.

Shortly after Letruska finished, Hot Rod Charlie appeared on the scene working in company with Khantaro d'Oro, a 2-year-old maiden. Del Mar clockers caught Hot Rod Charlie in :47.80 for the half-mile, 1:00.20 for five furlongs, 1:13 for six furlongs, and 1:26.80 for the seven-eighths.

“I thought the work was visually impressive,” O'Neill said. “Charlie sat off his workmate and when Flavien (Prat) called on him, he responded well. He galloped out good and his energy was very high.”

O'Neill also sent out $1 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf pre-entrant Mackinnon to work six furlongs on the main track in 1:14.80.

Nine other Breeders' Cup pre-entrants worked: Ain't Easy (NetJets Juvenile Fillies) 5f in 1:01; Desert Dawn (NetJets Juvenile Fillies) 5f in 1:00.60; Helens Well (IRE) (Juvenile Fillies Turf) 5f in 1:00.60; Oviatt Class (TVG Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance) 5f in :59.60 in company; Proud Emma (Filly & Mare Sprint) 5f in :59.80 with Prat aboard; Aloha West (Qatar Racing Sprint) 4f in :47.20; Channel Maker (Longines Turf) 4f in :48.40; Chaos Theory (Turf Sprint) 4f in :48.20; and Horologist (Longines Distaff) 4f in :49.60.

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Hot Rod Charlie Survives Inquiry To Win Pennsylvania Derby

The last time they met, Midnight Bourbon clipped Hot Rod Charlie's heels and stumbled in the stretch of the Grade 1 Haskell, shedding rider Paco Lopez and costing Hot Rod Charlie his first G1 stakes win. In the Pennsylvania Derby, Hot Rod Charlie once again tangled with Midnight Bourbon, as the Doug O'Neill trainee almost blew the far turn, getting close enough to Midnight Bourbon in the process that the result yet again went to the stewards. This time, though, Hot Rod Charlie got the decision, getting his first Grade 1 victory at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn.

At the break, Hot Rod Charlie with Flavien Prat took the early lead, with Midnight Bourbon and Ricardo Santana, Jr. to his outside, three-quarters of a length back. The two dueled on the front around the first turn and into the backstretch, with Speaker's Corner and Weyburn three lengths back. Hot Rod Charlie kept his advantage throughout, with Midnight Bourbon staying close to him as they rounded the far turn.

With the field still several lengths back, Hot Rod Charlie, running a couple of paths off the rail, went wide out of the far turn, Prat having to take up on him to keep him from blowing the turn altogether. That move took Midnight Bourbon still wider, but Prat was able to straighten his colt out as Midnight Bourbon kept pressuring the leader down the stretch. Hot Rod Charlie was too much for Midnight Bourbon, pulling away to a 2 1/4-length victory.

Immediately after the race, Santana, Jr. lodged a claim of foul for interference against Prat and Hot Rod Charlie. The inquiry sign went up as well, but ultimately the Parx stewards decided to keep the order of finish intact.

The final time for the 1 1/8 miles was 1:48.63. Find this race's chart here.

Hot Rod Charlie paid $3.80, $2.60, and $2.10. Midnight Bourbon paid $3.60 and $2.40. Americanrevolution paid $3.00.

Bred in Kentucky by Edward A. Cox, Jr., Hot Rod Charlie is by Oxbow out of the Indian Charlie mare Indian Miss. He is owned by Roadrunner Racing, William Strauss, Boat Racing, and Gainesway Stable. Hot Rod Charlie was consigned by Small Batch Sales and purchased by Dennis O'Neill at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale for $110,000. With his win in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, the 3-year-old colt has two wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 11-3-2-3 and career earnings of $2,171,200.

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California Invader Hot Rod Charlie Scores Front-End Victory In Louisiana Derby

Second at 94-1 odds in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and third in his 3-year-old debut in the G3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita, Hot Rod Charlie scored a front-running two-length victory under Joel Rosario on Saturday in the $1-million, G2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans, La.

Sent away as the 5-2 second choice in the wagering behind the Brad Cox-trained 6-5 favorite Mandaloun, Hot Rod Charlie battled with Midnight Bourbon and Joe Talamo throughout the 1 3/16 miles, and put that rival away in the final sixteenth of a mile to win in 1:55.06 on a fast main track, a new track record at the infrequently run distance. He paid $7.80 to win.

Fractions of the race were :23.10, :47.04, 1:11.25 and 1:36.38.

Midnight Bourbon held second, with 28-1 longshot O Besos rallying up the rail late to finish a head back in third, with 3-1 third choice Proxy another 1 3/4 lengths back in fourth. Mandaloun finished sixth of the eight 3-year-olds. The Risen Star winner tried to reach contention with the top pair going into the far turn but was not able to sustain his rally.

Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill, was the trainer of record for the Louisiana Derby as O'Neill was serving a 10-day medication suspension for a lidocaine positive in California from March 8-17 when entries for the race were taken.

The son of the Awesome Again stallion, Oxbow, Hot Rod Charlie earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, with the second through fourth finishers getting 40, 20 and 10 points, respectively.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

Hot Rod Charlie is owned by the partnership of Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing and William Strauss.

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