HOT ROD CHARLIE brings excitement, and a little drama, to his races, and the September 25 Pennsylvania Derby (G1) was no different.
The talented bay colt owned by a new group of racing owners, the Boat Stable, along with Gainesway Farm, Roadrunner Racing and William Strauss, was coming off a win in the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth in July but was disqualified for interfering with rival Midnight Bourbon who clipped heels and lost his rider.
In the Pennsylvania Derby, it almost happened again, as Hot Rod Charlie drifted out on the turn for home with Midnight Bourbon planted just off his flank. But jockey Flavien Prat managed to get Charlie back on track quickly and the son of Oxbow – Indian Miss by Indian Charlie kicked clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
It was the first Grade 1 win for Charlie, who is trained by Doug O’Neill. The final time for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track was 1:48.6.
Ontario-bred Weyburn had a bit of a slow start, tracked the speed of the top two finishers and then faded to last.
Owned by Chiefswood Stable, Weyburn, winner of the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes this year, was reported to come out of the race fine according to racing manager Robert Landry, but he will be checked from ‘head to toe’ in the coming days.
In four previous Grade 1 tries, Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified from the win in the Haskell, was second to champion Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes in June, was beaten just a length by Mandaloun when third in the Kentucky Derby this spring, and in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, was edged three-quarters of a length by Essential Quality.
Midnight Bourbon’s trainer Steve Asmussen was not overly pleased with the incident on the turn and there was an inquiry before the results were made official.
“Flavien Prat almost drops Midnight Bourbon for the second time,” Asmussen said. “My horse ran well. He survived.”
“Dropping him once this year ain’t enough? That’s exactly what I got to say,” Asmussen said before the race was made official. “Anybody who’s ever watched a horse race knows that it [cost us momentum]. Where the [heck] is he going?”
Jockey Prat responded, “It was absolutely not intentional,” Prat said. “My horse, he looked at something on the inside, then he swapped leads. It was nothing I can control, but it was absolutely not intentional. Especially after what happened last time, I would never try to do something like this.”
Hot Rod Charlie now has three wins from 11 races and earnings of over $2.1 million.
“Charlie is a rock star,” winning trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I’m just a roadie but I am a pumped roadie, that’s for sure.”
“I could tell Charlie did not corner as well as he could. But it didn’t seem like he affected (Midnight) Bourbon at all, thank God,” O’Neill said. “He seemed like he was clear. Flavien had mentioned maybe putting a set of cheaters on him again. He said he got a little distracted being on the lead, kind of looking around and that might have caused him not to corner as well as he could have.”
“This one did not seem as dramatic as the (Haskell),” O’Neill said. “For this to come on top of his last race, this was definitely exaggerated and had a long inquiry as well. Thank God he was clear and didn’t cause any interference. I was pretty confident they were not going to take him down.”
“It’s so big,” O’Neill said of Hot Rod Charlie’s first Grade 1 win. “It still hasn’t sunk in. He has had so many hard-fought races and to not have a Grade 1 on his resumé seemed so unfortunate for a horse as good as he is. It’s good to finally get it.”
Hot Rod Charlie descends from a SILVER DEPUTY (Vice Regent mare) and that stallion had a super career at stud and as a broodmare sire. His daughter LADY DIPLOMAT is Hot Rod Charlie’s third dam. A stakes-placed winner, Lady Diplomat produced at least nine winners including Glackens Gal (Smoke Glacken) who was unbeaten in two starts including the Astoria stakes.
Glackens Gal is the dam of INDIAN MISS (Indian Charlie) whose second foal was champion sprinter MITOLE (Eskendereya), earner of over $3 million. Indian Miss was purchased for $1.9 million last fall at the Keeneland November sale into foal to Into Mischief, produced a colt this spring and she is in foal to Instagrand.
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