Hot Rod Charlie targets Whitney Stakes
Hot Rod Charlie was in good condition Sunday and headed from New Jersey to Keeneland on a van after his second-place finish Saturday at Monmouth Park in the $150,000 Salvator Mile.
Trainer Doug O’Neill has about a dozen horses stabled at Keeneland and said Hot Rod Charlie would train there in advance of a likely start in the $1 million Whitney Stakes on Aug. 6 at Saratoga.
“We’ll huddle up in a week or so and make sure, but the tentative plan is the Whitney,” O’Neill said.
Hot Rod Charlie tracked the sharp pacesetter Mind Control in the two-turn Salvator Mile, pounced on him in upper stretch and held a narrow advantage at the furlong grounds, but Mind Control battled back along the rail to prevail by a head. Both horses got a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I thought he ran great. A mile probably is too short for him,” O’Neill said.
The Whitney is contested over 1 1/8 miles. Hot Rod Charlie would be making his Saratoga debut if he indeed ships for the race. The Salvator Mile was the 4-year-old colt’s first start since a second-place finish March 26 in the Dubai World Cup. With regular rider Flavien Prat committed to riding Masen on Saturday at Belmont, where the Chad Brown-trained turf miler won the Poker Stakes, Mike Smith was deputized in the Salvator Mile. O’Neill said Prat was expected to ride Hot Rod Charlie in the Whitney.