Santa Anita
Hot Rod Charlie jogs; will point to Belmont Stakes
Barbara D. Livingston Hot Rod Charlie will jog for another day or two before he resumes galloping.
Hot Rod Charlie, third by a length behind Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby on May 1, jogged at Santa Anita on Friday, beginning preparation for an expected start in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 5.
“Well jog for another day or two, and when he gives us the signal he wants to do more, we’ll start galloping,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.
O’Neill said the Belmont Stakes is “the plan as long as he tells us he’ll be ready for it.”
Hot Rod Charlie won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in March. In the Kentucky Derby, Hot Rod Charlie was as close as a half-length from the front with a quarter-mile remaining, but could not catch Medina Spirit and Mandaloun through the stretch.