Hot Rod Charlie

Hall of Famer Bob Baffert will have two shots at adding to his growing record with a potential ninth win in Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S. at Santa Anita. The improving $1-million Keeneland September graduate Spielberg (Union Rags), MGISP as a juvenile, posted a hard-fought, breakthrough nose victory in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity last time Dec. 19. The runner-up that day The Great One (Nyquist), meanwhile, returned with a flashy, 14-length maiden victory for trainer Doug O'Neill last weekend, good for a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Baffert will...

How aptly we talk of our walk of life as the Turf. Because raising a horse is just like raising a lawn. Take a microscope out there, if you like, but no human being has actually seen grass grow. Yet one morning toward the end of winter, the birdsong sounds different and you realize you left your coat on the peg without thinking about it. And you look at that lawn and, no argument, it's time to take the mower out of its stable. That moment remains a long way...

Already a winner of the GI Kentucky Derby with 2016 hero Nyquist (Uncle Mo) and I'll Have Another (Flower Alley) in 2012, trainer Doug O'Neill is looking forward to the New Year with Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow), Wipe the Slate (Nyquist) and Team Merchants (Nyquist) among his well-regarded sophomores. Hot Rod Charlie worked five furlongs at Santa Anita Saturday in a bullet :59.40, fastest of 64 drills at the distance. A narrow winner in his fourth career start at Santa Anita on October, Hot Rod Charlie closed to finish second-at...