Belmont Stakes 2021: Prat likely to ride Hot Rod Charlie, not Rombauer
Flavien Prat is a man in demand. He won the Preakness aboard Rombauer, but he also rides Hot Rod Charlie, who crossed the wire third in the Kentucky Derby, and there is the strong likelihood he will be on Hot Rod Charlie if, as currently planned, both go in the Belmont Stakes on June 5.
“We have Prat. Grateful to have him,” said Doug O’Neill, who trains Hot Rod Charlie.
Hot Rod Charlie is scheduled to have his next work Saturday at Santa Anita, with Prat aboard. Barring something that prevents him from running in the Belmont, the connections of Rombauer will need a new rider if Rombauer comes back in the Belmont.
Michael McCarthy, the trainer of Rombauer, on Wednesday said he was taking it day by day and would see what pans out in coming days regarding Prat. There’s certainly no shortage of top riders available, headed by John Velazquez, who rode Medina Spirit in the Derby and Preakness and lost a potential Belmont mount when the filly Malathaat was taken out of consideration on Tuesday.
Hot Rod Charlie returned to Santa Anita after the Derby and skipped the Preakness, similar to another California-based Belmont contender, Rock Your World. Both are on course to compete in the Belmont, their schedule mirroring that of Rombauer before he won the Preakness.
Rombauer finished third in the Blue Grass, returned to Santa Anita, skipped the Derby, then won the Preakness after a five-week break. The Belmont is five weeks after the Derby, and horses who have had that schedule – run in the Derby, sit out the Preakness, go to the Belmont – have won the Belmont four of the last eight times the race has been run at its traditional distance and spot on the calendar.
Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, the Belmont wound up being the first leg of the Triple Crown, and was run at an abbreviated distance of 1 1/8 miles owing to the suspension of racing in many locales last spring. This year, the race returns as the final race of the series and at 1 1/2 miles.
Both Hot Rod Charlie and Rock Your World, according to their trainers, benefited by the extra time.
“We just thought coming back in two weeks was not in his best interest,” O’Neill said. “He has a patient group of owners. He looks fantastic.”
O’Neill said Hot Rod Charlie would have his final work May 28 before flying to New York on May 29, one week out from the Belmont. Hot Rod Charlie came into the Derby off a six-week break after capturing the Louisiana Derby.
Rock Your World went off the second choice in the Derby, at 9-2, but was eliminated at the start when knocked around by rivals on either side of him. He never got involved and crossed the wire 17th, beating just two horses while suffering the first loss of his career after three victories, including the Santa Anita Derby.
“We’re leaning that way,” said his trainer, John Sadler, who, like O’Neill, has two more works slated at Santa Anita before heading to New York on May 29. “He’ll work this Friday. He worked by himself last Friday. I may work him with another horse this time. We’ll make a firm decision after that work.
“We’re taking a cautious approach. We want to make sure the horse takes us there, not the schedule. But everything has been good so far.”
The Belmont field is expected to be headed by Rombauer as well as Essential Quality, who crossed the wire fourth as the favorite in the Derby. The Belmont lost one of its potential marquee attractions on Tuesday when the connections of Malathaat, the unbeaten winner of the Kentucky Oaks, announced she would await divisional races at Saratoga, like the Coaching Club American Oaks.
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Todd Pletcher, who trains Malathaat, on Wednesday said he still intended to run three horses in the race, including two – Bourbonic and Known Agenda – who raced in the Derby and then skipped the Preakness, the approach Pletcher took with Belmont winners Palace Malice in 2013 and Tapwrit in 2017. Pletcher is a three-time Belmont winner, his other being the filly Rags to Riches, who came into the 2007 Belmont off a five-week break, following a victory in the Kentucky Oaks.
Pletcher said both Bourbonic, who was 13th in the Derby, and Known Agenda, who was ninth, would have their Derby riders aboard, with Kendrick Carmouche on Bourbonic and Irad Ortiz Jr. on Known Agenda.
Pletcher said he also intends to run Overtook, third most recently in the Peter Pan. No riding assignment is yet confirmed for Overtook. Promise Keeper, who won the Peter Pan, is “more likely for the Ohio Derby,” which is June 26 at JACK Thistledown Racino, Pletcher said.
On Wednesday at Belmont, Rebel’s Romance, winner of the United Arab Emirates Derby in his most recent start, had his first local work, which Daily Racing Form clocker Donald Harris caught in 50.20 seconds for a half-mile while working in company. Harris had Rebel’s Romance galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.40.
– additional reporting by Nicole Russo