Hot Rod Charlie will have prep in Dubai for Dubai World Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hot Rod Charlie, a two-time graded stakes winner in 2021 who was beaten a nose in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita, is scheduled to be flown to the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 17. Hot Rod Charlie is part of a group of eight runners trained by Doug O’Neill that will be sent to Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where the horses will stay through late March.

O’Neill said Sunday that Hot Rod Charlie is booked for two starts in Dubai – the Group 2 second round of the $350,000 Al Maktoum Challenge at 1 3/16 miles on Feb. 4, and the $12 million Dubai World Cup at 1 1/4 miles on March 26.

“If all goes well, he’ll be in the World Cup,” O’Neill said.

A 4-year-old colt, Hot Rod Charlie has won 3 of 13 starts and earned $2,511,200 for the partnership of Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss. In November, Hot Rod Charlie was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, finishing 4 1/2 lengths behind winner Knicks Go.

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In the San Antonio at 1 1/16 miles, Hot Rod Charlie was always near the front and was beaten by Express Train. O’Neill said he erred in the way he prepared Hot Rod Charlie for the San Antonio.

“I had him in more of a mile-and-a-quarter mindset than a mile-and-sixteenth mindset,” he said. “It was his typical gutsy race.”

Hot Rod Charlie is winless in two starts since a win in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in September. Last July, Hot Rod Charlie finished first in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, but was disqualified for causing interference in the stretch.

O’Neill’s team for Dubai is scheduled to include Go On, who was a well-beaten fourth in the San Antonio; Positivity, who was second by a nose in the Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar in November and is scheduled to start in the $150,000 California Cup Sprint on Jan. 15; and Strongconstitution, fourth in an allowance race at six furlongs last Friday.

Friday, Santa Anita stewards fined O’Neill $5,000 as part of a settled agreement between the trainer and the California Horse Racing Board for failing to post five detention stall signs in his stable at Los Alamitos last July. Trainers are required to post signs on stalls of horses who are racing that day to remind stable staff and veterinarians not to administer supplements or medications not allowed on race day.