Hot Rod Charlie to Start Next in Kentucky Derby

Hot Rod Charlie broke through the graded barrier by taking the March 20 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and will make his next start in the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs, according to his connections.

The 3-year-old Oxbow  colt, a half brother to 2019 champion male sprinter Mitole , is conditioned by Doug O'Neill, trainer of the respective 2012 and 2016 Kentucky Derby winners, I'll Have Another  and Nyquist . O'Neill's assistant Leandro Mora was the trainer of record for the Louisiana Derby with O'Neill serving a 10-day suspension after a horse of his tested positive for lidocaine last fall.

"'Charlie' looked great this morning. He flies back to California on Tuesday," O'Neill said. "I love the spacing (six weeks) leading up to the Kentucky Derby. It's ideal. He's proven to travel well."

Hot Rod Charlie is owned by Roadrunner Racing, Boat Racing—which includes family ties to O'Neill—and William Strauss.

"I'm very proud of my nephew Patrick (with Boat Racing)," O'Neill said. "He's a real good young man and I'm very excited for him and all of the owners."

Hot Rod Charlie gained the lead after the opening quarter-mile in the Louisiana Derby and continued on to a two-length victory under Joel Rosario. He completed 1 3/16 miles in track record time of 1:55.06.

"It was surprising that he went to the lead, but when he broke so sharply, Rosario made the decision to go, which some riders don't like to do," Mora said. "Some riders kind of panic in that situation and pull back but Joel made the horse feel comfortable."

Mora, longtime assistant to O'Neill, compared Hot Rod Charlie to one of O'Neill's Kentucky Derby winners.

"Hot Rod Charlie reminds me of I'll Have Another, who had ups and downs before he became the horse he was at the end of his career … (he) was nothing but a speed horse early on," Mora said. "He got better with age, and Hot Rod Charlie is similar."

Mora said they would love to keep Rosario aboard Hot Rod Charlie for the Kentucky Derby, but noted the jockey is also the regular rider for Rebel Stakes (G2) winner Concert Tour, trained by Bob Baffert.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Louisiana Derby runner-up Midnight Bourbon is also expected to continue on to the Kentucky Derby.

"Big effort and he's another horse … that's just going to continue to improve," said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. "I don't think distance will be an issue with him and the timing, back to the Derby, off this series here, there will be plenty of time to freshen up and run his best race. We'll train here for a week and ship a week from Sunday (March 28)."

Bernard Racing, Tagg Team Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds' O Besos rallied from last to finish third at 28-1. While Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon are currently ranked first with 110 points and second with 66 points, respectively, on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, trainer Greg Foley is waiting to see where O Besos sits in the rankings after the prep races to the Run for the Roses wrap up. O Besos is currently 11th with 25 points.

"We all want to go forward after yesterday. The only question we had was the distance, and he answered that pretty good. He galloped out past the winner," Foley said. "We've got 25 (Derby qualifying) points. If we got second, we wouldn't have to think about it, but now we have to hope we get in. We just have to wait and see.

"I don't want to run him back (before the Kentucky Derby). I don't think it will affect our training. He's a dead-fit horse. We'll get him back home next week (to Churchill Downs) and we'll just wait and see. If it gets us in, great; if it doesn't, oh well, we'll go from there."

Michael Stidham and Brad Cox, respective trainers of fourth-place Proxy and sixth-place Mandaloun, were not as committed to sending their charges to the Kentucky Derby, but did not rule out the opportunity either.

"(Proxy) came back in good condition. I will discuss it with the Godolphin team and decide which direction we go in next," Stidham said.

Juddmonte Farms' Mandaloun was sixth as the 6-5 favorite after taking the Feb. 13 Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at Fair Grounds.

"We couldn't come up with any reasons for the dull performance. We'll get him back to Kentucky, see how he trains, and then go from there," Cox said. "I've thought about it, but I think right now I'll probably nominate him to the Lexington (G3, April 10 at Keeneland) and we'll see. He was done at the half-mile pole, so I don't think the distance was the reason (he was so dull). He ran out of horse fairly quickly. He handled everything in the paddock, so to show up and get beat by those horses we had run so well against, that was obviously disappointing.

"We were the favorite. It's almost like you'd like to see a reason or an excuse but we aren't seeing it yet. The six weeks (to the Derby) is almost a blessing. I don't think it's a bad thing. We'll see how he trains. I'm not going to change too much with him. He bounced out of it in good shape, scoped good, no issues. He'll probably go to Churchill at some point later this week."

Travel Column to Kentucky Oaks

Cox had better luck in the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) with OXO Equine's Travel Column, who sat off the pace and pounced in the stretch to roll home an easy winner over late-running rival Clairiere.

"She'll go to Churchill later this week (with Mandaloun). She came out of it good, scoped good, looked good. I was super happy with her," Cox said. "She's a good work horse and she should be fit. She's had two races and that was our plan all along, to come down here and run twice and have a horse who is the third race off the layoff (in the Kentucky Oaks). It's similar with what we're doing with Essential Quality (for the Kentucky Derby).

"It's a really good rivalry (with Clairiere). I was confident with how the race unfolded and I think she'll be able to get another sixteenth of a mile (in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks). She's by a son of Tapit  (Frosted ) and she showed in the Golden Rod (G2) she can come from off of it as well."

The Asmussen barn is looking forward to the added distance in the Kentucky Oaks for Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere. 

    

"I love Clairiere stretching out to a mile and an eighth," Blasi said. "The pace yesterday was very moderate and it really didn't benefit her running style. I thought it was an A-effort considering everything and she should move forward a lot off of it. With her breeding (by Curlin  and out of multiple grade 1-winning distaffer Cavorting) and her running style, the distance at Churchill should really benefit her."

Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational, third in the Fair Grounds Oaks, is also likely to be prepared for the Kentucky Oaks.

"She came out of the race good, cleaned up her feed, all is well," said David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. "Talking to Mark, and he'll be in contact with Mrs. (Charlotte) Weber (of Live Oak Plantation), we'll get her up north and prepare her for the Oaks, and if everything looks good, we'll take a shot. She'll leave Tuesday night for Churchill and we'll train her there and see how she's doing and make a decision closer to the race. Based on yesterday she deserves the chance."