Mind Control edges Hot Rod Charlie in Salvator Mile
Mind Control battled back after losing the lead to odds-on favorite Hot Rod Charlie and posted a narrow victory Saturday at Monmouth Park in the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile.
Mind Control has raced around one turn for much of his career, but has shown an affinity for two-turn miles. His first true route start produced a distant seventh-place finish in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Mind Control didn’t start in another two-turn race until last September at Parx Racing. There, he fought back after Silver State lost his focus and the lead to win the $200,000 Parx Dirt Mile, and even against a higher-profile horse the story Saturday at Monmouth was similar.
Breaking from post 1 under John Velazquez, Mind Control went to the lead and set even splits of 23.30 and 46.60 as Hot Rod Charlie, Mike Smith filling in for regular rider Flavien Prat, tracked the pace from second in this five-starter field. Mind Control had about one length on Hot Rod Charlie going into the second turn, Hot Rod Charlie creeping closer approaching the three-furlong marker as the pair hit the quarter pole simultaneously.
As Mind Control fought on, Hot Rod Charlie gained the advantage, taking a lead of about a neck to the furlong grounds, but Mind Control ceded nothing, coming right back on the 1-5 favorite and diving to the wire to win by a head.
“We got a breather, and when I got to the half-mile pole, I kind of opened up again and he gave me a good run down the lane,” Velazquez said. “Hot Rod Charlie actually put his head in front late, but my horse was just too game.”
The top two finished more than five lengths clear of third-place Shirl’s Speight. Confessor and Helium were scratched.
Mind Control ($6.60) ran one mile on a fast track in 1:35.79 while getting six pounds from Hot Rod Charlie. Trained by Todd Pletcher for Red Oak Stables and Madaket Stables, Mind Control was coming off a sub-par run in the Churchill Down Stakes on May 7. The 6-year-old horse, by Stay Thirsty out of Feel that Fire, by Lightnin N Thunder, was back at this best Saturday.
Hot Rod Charlie likely wasn’t at his best. Making his first start since a gritty second-place finish March 26 in the Dubai World Cup, Hot Rod Charlie turned in a solid if less than spectacular performance with more important goals upcoming this summer, although Smith, who rode the 4-year-old Grade 1 winner for the first time, was less than thrilled with the outcome.
“Was I pleased? No. I would not have been happy with anything but a win. Did he run well? Yes. He didn’t run badly. Credit to the winner,” Smith said. “Ability-wise I know what [Hot Rod Charlie] is capable of, so that is the reason I am not pleased. I know what he can do, and this was not it.”