Hot Rod Charlie will skip Pacific Classic

DEL MAR, Calif. - Hot Rod Charlie, the disqualified winner of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 17, will not start in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21.

“The owners and I have huddled up and we want to take a patient approach,” trainer Doug O’Neill said Sunday. “I’m not sure if the Pacific Classic will fit in our mindset.

“We’re in no hurry to get him back out there u ntil he’s ready and he’s tearing the barn down. We’re going day by day.”

Owned by the partnership of Boat Racing, Gainesway Stable, Roadrunner Racing, and William Strauss, Hot Rod Charlie is rated as one of the nation’s leading 3-year-olds. Hot Rod Charlie won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds in February and was later third in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1 and second in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 5.

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In the Haskell, Hot Rod Charlie finished a nose in front of Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun, but was disqualified and placed last in the field of seven for causing interference in the stretch to Midnight Bourbon, who unseated jockey Paco Lopez.

By Oxbow, Hot Rod Charlie has won 2 of 10 starts and has earned $1,598,200.