Hot Rod Charlie

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...

LOUISVILLE, KY - Unbeaten champion Essential Quality (Tapit) was assigned post 14 in a full field of 20 assembled for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Tuesday's post position draw held at Churchill Downs. The Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star,' tabbed as the 2-1 favorite on Mike Battaglia's morning line, made it a perfect five-for-five for trainer Brad Cox with a hard-fought, neck decision over Highly Motivated (Into Mischief) in the GII Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 3. Luis Saez, disqualified from first aboard Maximum Security in 2019, has...

Jake Panus will not be at his father's side Saturday watching the GI Kentucky Derby. His life ended at an all-too-young 16 last August when he was a passenger in a car involved in a DUI accident on Block Island, just off the coast of Rhode Island. But his friends, his family and a Kentucky Derby trainer have made sure that he will not be forgotten this week at Churchill Downs. Derby contender and GII Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) has been equipped with a special blanket honoring...

The man lying in the hospital bed silent and completely still was a good man and led a good life. A loving husband, amazing father and a relentless provider for his family was slipping closer to death. My dad was a man of conviction, integrity and faith and I try every day to be the man he was. I won't get there, but I try. It's all about trying. He lived a full life and gave up a lot of the freedoms of his youth when he got married, which...

Three Santa Anita-based sophomores headed to the GI Kentucky Derby tuned up Saturday morning over their home track. Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), who will have his fair share of backers off his front-running victory in the GII Louisiana Derby, went three-quarters of a mile in :1.14.20 for two-time Derby-winning conditioner Doug O'Neill. Flavien Prat, who was tabbed earlier this week for the ride, was aboard. "He looked solid. So far, so good," said O'Neill. Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), who remained perfect in three starts with his front-running success...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), front-running winner of the GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby in his most recent trip to the races, prepped for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby with a five-furlong breeze Saturday morning over the Santa Anita main track. The half-brother to champion Mitole (Eskendereya) stopped the clock in 1:01.20 to the satisfaction of trainer Doug O'Neill. "'Charlie' had company with a horse named Hammering Lemon (Square Eddie) [clocked in 1:01.60] who broke off in front of him," the two-time Derby-winning trainer commented. "They both finished up good, but...

On a brisk spring morning, Juddmonte Farm's Mandaloun (Into Mischief) began his serious preparation toward the GI Kentucky Derby with a half-mile breeze in :49.80 under jockey Florent Geroux Saturday. The GII Risen Star S. winner worked outside of stakes winner Australasia through a moderate :25.40 opening quarter-mile fraction. The duo galloped out together through five furlongs in 1:02.60 and completed the work with a six-furlong time of 1:16.40, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. Trained by Brad Cox, Mandaloun was the 6-5 favorite in the Mar. 20 GII...

What do Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), and Knicks Go (Paynter) have in common? For one, they've cumulatively won three of the four most lucrative dirt races contested in North America so far this year. Hot Rod Charlie won the $1 million Gll Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds last weekend; Mystic Guide was first in the $600,000 Glll Razorback H. at Oaklawn Feb. 27; and Knicks Go took the $3 million Gl Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23. The other big-money race was the...

It's not what you would think. Not the invincible, fist-pumping, chest-bumping days. No, the real bond is forged exactly where the rest of us would least imagine—in the moments of disappointment, moments of doubt. That's where you really learn about each other. "Honestly, thinking back, what I remember most is those bus rides back from games we lost," says Patrick O'Neill. "And that's crazy to say. We were very competitive. Second or third, pretty much every year we played in the Ivy League. But it's those losses where you really...

There was a rare and welcome sight Saturday at Santa Anita when the field of five scampered across the down-the-hill turf course to begin the 1 1/2-mile GIII San Luis Rey S. There were no incidents in a perfectly clean race where no one was hurt. So why can't the course also be used for what were iconic 6 1/2-furlong downhill grass races? They haven't carded a turf sprint on that course since a horse named Arms Runner (Overdriven) broke down and had to be euthanized in the running of...

Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), the 94-1 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up, was sent to the front in a heady ride by Joel Rosario, and refused to lose, turning back Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) to win going away by two lengths in Saturday's GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby. O Besos (Orb) rallied nicely up the rail to just miss second by a head. The 5-2 second choice broke inward and bumped with a rival at the start. He led through fractions of :23.10 and :47.04 with Midnight Bourbon shadowing his every move. Midnight...

No getting away from it: even 107 previous runnings, a million bucks and 170 starting points can't dress up the recent misfortunes of the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby as a springboard to the first Saturday in May. Maybe that's because it falls between stools, in terms of scheduling, the previous cycle of rehearsals having left trainers scope for one more start before the GI Kentucky Derby. Not many around, nowadays, who'd even be thinking about running again with just six weeks to go. Credit to the Fair Grounds team, then,...