Doug O'Neill

Jockey John Velazquez will be based primarily at Santa Anita Park for the upcoming meet there that starts Dec. 26, a switch from recent seasons in which the 50-year-old Hall-of-Famer has wintered at Gulfstream Park. Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form first broke the news Monday. TDN left a phone message for Velazquez seeking comment, but it did not yield a return call prior to deadline for this story. The four-time GI Kentucky Derby-winner and co-chairman of the Jockeys' Guild made his decision public Nov. 29 via his agent, Ron...

Eric Armagost, Daniel Giovacchini, Reiley Higgins, Patrick O'Neill and Alex Quoyeser's Boat Racing has been named OwnerView's 2021 New Owner of the Year, sponsored by 1/ST RACING. Boat Racing is best known Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), a leading sophomore of this year who took the GI Pennsylvania Derby and GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby after finishing second in last year's GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA. The group of college friends from Brown University have used their runners' earnings to support philanthropic causes as well, contributing funds to and...

Two-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill has been summoned to a stewards' hearing to address a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) complaint that revolves around a potential illegal administration of a substance prior to races four months ago at Los Alamitos Race Course (LARC). According to an Oct. 22 CHRB complaint, back on July 5, "Investigators received information from Los Alamitos track security steward, Michael Kilpack, regarding seeing someone at trainer Doug O'Neill's barn possibly giving an illegal substance to a horse that had already been entered in a...

Top sophomore and last month's GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) put in his penultimate work for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday, breezing seven panels at Santa Anita in 1:26.60 (1/1). Regular rider Flavien Prat was aboard. "He galloped out good and we're feeling good," said trainer Doug O'Neill. "He'll ship Wednesday to Del Mar where he'll have his final work." The Classic looks likely to have plenty of early pace, which could prove advantageous to a stalker like Hot Rod Charlie. "Today he sat off a...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) tuned up for a tilt at the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a six-furlong drill in 1:14.00 (4/6) at Santa Anita Saturday. "We were happy," trainer Doug O'Neill said of the work. "He cooled out good. If all goes well and he stays injury-free, we're two works away. He'll have one at Santa Anita and one at Del Mar." Third in the GI Kentucky Derby and second in the GI Belmont S., Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified from a first-place finish in the GI...

Trainer Doug O'Neill's Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) began tightening the screws for the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Classic with a four-furlong move at Santa Anita Saturday morning. Out at 7:45 a.m., the popular dark bay, known for his gritty style, had Mike Smith in the irons. The Hall of Famer was filling in for regular rider Flavien Prat, who was riding at Keeneland Saturday. "He went a half-mile in 48 and change and galloped out in 1:01 and three," said O'Neill. "He looked good. It was his first piece...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), among the most talented horses in training yet to have officially reached the highest level, got his Grade I in Saturday's Pennsylvania Derby--but not without some more drama. He had last been seen getting DQ'd from first to seventh in the GI Haskell Invitational S. at Monmouth July 17 when he crossed over on and clipped heels with Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow), causing that runner to drop Paco Lopez. And it was Midnight Bourbon who again was involved in a controversial stretch drive with Hot Rod Charlie....

The decision to withdraw GI Kentucky Derby first-past-the-post Medina Spirit (Protonico) from Saturday's $1-million GI Pennsylvania Derby is certainly a disappointing development, but eight of the nine remaining entrants already have at least one stakes win to their credit, six of those at the graded-stakes level, with a couple of new shooters that have earned their chance to contest a race of this magnitude. Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) is a deserving favorite based on his body of work, one that could look dramatically more sparkling with a few different bounces...

Two-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill got fined $2,000 for a pair of methocarbamol positives at Santa Anita Park in May and June, one in a race and the other in a workout. According to a Sept. 6 ruling published within the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) weekly stewards' report for Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the two cases were combined into one because "O'Neill was not aware of the first medication positive [May 30] when the second complaint [June 3] was served by CHRB enforcement." Methocarbamol is a Class...

GSW Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) heads the early nominations for the Sept 25 GI Pennsylvania Derby. The nine-furlong marquee race for 3-year-olds highlights a stacked card which features eight stakes races, including five at the graded level. The Pennsylvania Derby was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. "We're still a few works away, but we're real optimistic about Charlie's next stop, the Pennsylvania Derby," said trainer Doug O'Neill. "The race looks to be coming up tough, which one would expect with a million dollars on the line." Winner...

Trainer Doug O'Neill experienced the agony and ecstasy of racing early Saturday evening at Monmouth Park, all in the span of less than 10 minutes. First, his star 3-year-old Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) won a hard-fought stretch battle in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., which would have been the colt's first Grade I victory after a handful of near-misses. But quickly after the race, in which Hot Rod Charlie came in on Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and the latter soon stumbled and lost rider Paco Lopez, the red inquiry sign lit...

Trainer Doug O'Neill joins the TDN Writers' Room following the disqualification of his horse, Hot Rod Charlie, in the Haskell Stakes to give his take on both the controversial race and the new whip ban at Monmouth Park.