Hot Rod Charlie Looks to Spring Upset in Classic

All Hot Rod Charlie  wants to do is his job. Race in and race out, the son of 2013 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Oxbow   comes to work, runs as hard as he can, and goes back home.

"He is a blue collar kind of horse," trainer Doug O'Neill said Friday morning outside his barn at Keeneland. "I am extremely proud of him for that."

The 4-year-old Hot Rod Charlie will have to step his game up an extra notch when he runs in the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 5. That's because he and jockey Tyler Gaffalione will be entering the same starting gate as the horse most everyone expects to run all over the rest of the field in the 1 ¼ -mile Classic.

That is the would-be wonder horse Flightline , who is the 3-5 morning line favorite.

Outwardly, O'Neill is gushing over the 4-year-old Flightline, who has never lost in five career starts.

"He is an amazing horse and it's going to be super tough to beat him," O'Neill said.

One thing the 54-year-old trainer is not going to do—ever—is rule out Hot Rod Charlie. The colt is stubborn and always ready for a fight on the track. Even though he was ruled out as a 15-1 shot on the Classic morning line, O'Neill is keeping the faith.

In his lone start at Keeneland, Hot Rod Charlie almost rewarded his barn when he finished second in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) in 2020. Hot Rod Charlie finished three-quarters of a length behind Essential Quality   that day.

At odds of 94-1.

If Hot Rod Charlie—or anyone else—beats Flightline, it will send shock waves through the Thoroughbred racing world. Hot Rod Charlie, who has five wins, five seconds and four thirds in 18 career starts, was last seen winning the Lukas Classic Stakes (G2) at  Churchill Downs on Oct 10.

Although O'Neill is based in California, Hot Rod Charlie has been at Keeneland since July and his last 14 works have been at the Kentucky track.

If Hot Rod Charlie is to pull off the upset—and O'Neill has no doubts he'll be trying—this is the way he envisions it happening:

"Flightline and Life Is Good   go crazy fast and soften each other up and we pick up the pieces," O'Neill said. "Simple. Like a video game."