Name? Hot Rod Charlie had only that cool moniker going for him. Until he nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Breeders’ Cup history. It took one of Essential Quality’s patented stretch rallies to beat the Oxbow colt and the longest shot in the field at the sixteenth pole.

Just like that, Hot Rod Charlie �?paying $51.60 to place and $21.40 to show and all �?was on the radar. He hasn’t left it since.

Now, the hugely popular colt with the cool name has the cool resume to go with it. He comes into the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic �?the highest rent on the high-rent Breeders’ Cup Monopoly board �?as a 4/1 third choice. And he comes in as a trendy pick among bettors who think 5/2 favorite Knicks Go can’t handle 10 furlongs and that 3/1 Essential Quality is vulnerable.

Essential Quality 2, Hot Rod Charlie 1

It’s a big ask, especially the latter, since Essential Quality has beaten Hot Rod Charlie in two of their three races. There was last year’s Juvenile and that epic Belmont Stakes duel, when Essential Quality let Hot Rod Charlie clock insane fractions for the 1 ½-mile race �?only to catch and pass him in deep stretch yet again.

In between, however, Hot Rod Charlie beat his erstwhile rival in the Kentucky Derby by less than a half-length. Yes, he finished third, but he’s one of three horses who crossed a wire before Essential Quality in nine races.

After that Juvenile near-miss, Hot Rod Charlie finished third in the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita. That’s when trainer Doug O’Neill put blinkers on him as a way to keep him focused.

“We had tried different things with him but things didn’t click until his fourth start, where he went two turns on the dirt with blinkers on (and won),�?Bill Strauss, one of Hot Rod Charlie’s owners, told the Breeders’ Cup notes team. “The light bulb went on.�?/p>

Blinkers on, light bulb on

The Louisiana Derby provided the site for that click. O’Neill left the blinkers on for the two Triple Crown races, then decided to take them off for the Haskell in July. That resulted in Hot Rod Charlie wandering into Midnight Bourbon’s path, then getting disqualified for interference.

One start later, Hot Rod Charlie kept them off for the Pennsylvania Derby. That resulted in the colt’s long-awaited first Grade 1 victory, but a victory not without more controversy. Once again, jockey Flavien Prat and Hot Rod Charlie forced the unlucky Midnight Bourbon out wide coming into the stretch. But this time, stewards let Hot Rod Charlie’s victory stand, despite a foul claim.

“It’s something that after the Pennsylvania Derby, Flavien Prat �?who is just an amazing horseman and knows Hot Rod Charlie so well �?suggested that French up blinkers would benefit him,�?O’Neill told Blood-Horse. “He’s had them on in the past. He can get to wandering sometimes and seeing things. So these little set of blinkers will kind of help him stay a little bit more focused. He’s had them on a bunch, so it shouldn’t be an issue, one way or another.�?/p>

Speed vs. consistency

Hot Rod Charlie’s versatility and adaptability isn’t quite that of his fellow 3-year-old Essential Quality. He is more of a pace-presser and stalker, whereas Essential Quality has successfully shown every running style. But he has more raw speed than Essential Quality.

“We’ve got options,â€�?O’Neill told Santa Anita’s Ed Golden. “He’s shown he can win on the front or from sitting behind, so I like where we’re at. He’s definitely a versatile colt.”

Hot Rod Charlie’s career-best 111 Beyer Speed Figure is second in the field to Knicks Go’s 113. It’s also the fastest Beyer by a 3-year-old at a mile or longer this year. It’s equal to or faster than the Beyers of the last three Classic winners: Authentic (111), Vino Rosso (111) and Accelerate (108). For good measure, Hot Rod Charlie’s 120 Equibase is tied with Art Collector for the top mark on that scale.

And how many people are talking about anyone else’s runner-up finish? Jon White, who wrote the Breeders’ Cup morning line and is an Xpressbet columnist, said Hot Rod Charlie’s Belmont runner-up was one of the most impressive races of the year. He covered the first quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds and the first half in 46.49 �?and only lost by 1 ¾ lengths with a 108 Beyer. The only horse in the 95 previous Belmonts run at 1 ½ miles clocking faster splits than that was Secretariat in 1973.

Can Hot Rod Charlie blaze O’Neill’s trail to the winner’s circle?

Now, you understand how far Hot Rod Charlie came in a year. From 94/1 long shot to 4/1 good shot to bring O’Neill his sixth Breeders’ Cup winner �?and first in the flagship Classic. O’Neill is 0-for-5, sending out Lava Man (2006), Richard’s Kid (2012), Handsome Mike (2012) and Pavel (2017, 2018).

“It’s nine solid horses and nine solid jockeys, so it’s really all a matter of positioning,�?O’Neill said, praising Prat’s riding skill and familiarity with Hot Rod Charlie. “I feel good that we can find ourselves a good spot.�?/p>

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Will either Hot Rod Charlie or Midnight Bourbon finally get that elusive Grade 1 victory?

If either one of them breaks their Grade 1 schnide, Saturday at Parx is probably the time and the place they break it. There is no Essential Quality, no Mandaloun, no Medina Spirit to torment either of the two 3-year-olds, who are clearly the front-runners here in more ways than one.

This year’s $1 million Penn Derby features a field of eight �?down from 10 with the scratches of Medina Spirit and Keepmeinmind. Medina Spirit, the initial 2/1 favorite, scratched after trainer Bob Baffert didn’t like his outside post 9. Trainer Robertino Diodoro scratched Keepmeinmind Friday after he suffered an abscess in his left front foot.

“It’s just bad timing,�?Diodoro told Parx. “He trained like a monster (Thursday) and we needed the pony to get him of the track; he was feeling so good. This is definitely disappointing, but the main thing is the horse is going to be OK. Terrible timing.�?/p>

Parx gets its day in the sun Saturday

The remaining eight will travel 1 1/8 miles in the featured race on Parx’s marquee race day. The suburban Philadelphia track offers eight stakes �?five graded �?and $3.4 million in combined purses. The Penn Derby is one of two Grade 1s, with the Cotillion for 3-year-old fillies being the other.

Those eight follow the hoofprints of recent Penn Derby winners, such as McKinzie (2018), West Coast (2017), Frosted (2015), Bayern (2014) and Will Take Charge (2012). Bayern set the track record, beating Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome in a race that put the Penn Derby on the map for horsemen. For good measure, Bayern beat him again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, giving Baffert the first of his three consecutive Classic titles. Both Will Take Charge and West Coast won Eclipse Awards as Champion 3-Year-Old Male.

That’s where Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon come in. Hot Rod Charlie inherited 5/2 morning-line favorite status when Baffert pulled 2/1 Medina Spirit out. You’ll remember his last outing, that infamous Haskell Stakes victory that wasn’t, after Hot Rod Charlie was taken down for interfering with Midnight Bourbon in the stretch.

Hot Rod Charlie as consistent as they come

That erased what would have been his first victory since he took the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in March. Hot Rod Charlie’s demotion to seventh marked the first time he missed the board in eight races, spanning 10 months. And yet, despite more than $1.5 million in earnings, a narrow miss in the Belmont Stakes, and a stellar record in graded stakes (1-2-2 in six starts), Hot Rod Charlie lacks a Grade 1.

“He has shown up in every big race we have had him in,�?trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He has been very honest, and, gosh, I just feel so lucky and blessed to be connected with him. He is just a real cool, blue-collar solid horse.�?/p>

Expect that “blue-collar horse�?to establish early speed with his Haskell nemesis: Midnight Bourbon (5/1). Both are front-runners who like being on �?or near �?the lead.

The clock strikes 12 on Midnight Bourbon in the stretch

Midnight Bourbon held the lead when Rombauer reeled him in at the sixteenth pole in the Preakness. He led the Travers through the first mile of the 1 ¼-mile test, before Essential Quality caught him with three-sixteenths to go and beat him by a neck. And he led the opening quarter-mile of the Louisiana Derby before Hot Rod Charlie passed him and O Besos nearly did at the wire.

Detect a trend here? Midnight Bourbon hasn’t won since the Grade 3 Lecomte in January. That was six races ago. There is no quibbling with Midnight Bourbon’s grinder mentality; he never takes a race off and you’ll see him on the lead here from the outset.

That said, putting aside his decent sixth in the Kentucky Derby and his DNF due to Hot Rod Charlie’s interference at Monmouth Park, Midnight Bourbon put himself in the box of good, but not great, colts.

This is his best chance to escape that box.

Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby/Parx

Morning Line (Jockey/Trainer)

1. Fulsome, 12/1 (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox)
2. Keepmeinmind, SCR
3. Speaker’s Corner, 12/1 (Jose Ortiz/Bill Mott)
4. Weyburn, 12/1 (Paco Lopez/Jimmy Jerkens)
5. I Am Redeemed, 20/1 (Abner Adorno/Penny Pearce)
6. Bourbonic, 12/1 (Kendrick Carmouche/Todd Pletcher)
7. Hot Rod Charlie, 5/2 (Flavien Prat/Doug O’Neill)
8. Midnight Bourbon, 5/1 (Ricardo Santana Jr./Steve Asmussen)
9. Medina Spirit, SCR
10. Americanrevolution, 15/1 (Luis Saez/Todd Pletcher)

There are two others worth noting who could keep both Hot Rod Charlie and Midnight Bourbon Grade 1-less. The first is Speaker’s Corner (12/1), who defines “lightly raced.�?The Street Sense colt is 2-0-1 in his three career races �?the lightest-raced colt in the field. But after breaking his maiden in his second try at Belmont Park last October, Speaker’s Corner tore apart a Saratoga August allowance by 5 ¼ lengths.

That Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott turns him loose in a solid Grade 1 coming out of that speaks loudly about Speaker’s Corner. That Speaker’s Corner gets a fast pace to run into speaks loudly about his chances here �?even vaulting into this deep pool.

Don’t be surprised by a Penn Derby upset

The second to watch is another Grade 1 rookie: Fulsome (12/1). The Into Mischief colt comes in 5-for-7 and 3-for-his-last-4 (3-0-1). Two of those wins came in Grade 3s: the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in May and the Street Sense here at Parx last month. Fulsome was the 3/5 favorite in that latter race, the prep for the Penn Derby.

What makes Fulsome a quiet threat here is his closing style. In a race where Hot Rod Charlie, Midnight Bourbon, Americianrevolution and Weyburn figure to fly out of the gate, he can smash and grab at least a piece here â€�?if not more — should things break right.

The pick: Speaker’s Corner. This pace sets up perfectly for a colt who waltzed to a 107 Equibase Speed Figure in his last start. He was highly regarded from the outset and his late-finishing kick and pure speed find the right scenario to flourish. Plus, you get all that at a price you won’t get with the two favorites. That said, do not leave Hot Rod Charlie off your tickets. He has more tactical speed that Midnight Bourbon �?a lesson we’ve seen time and time again this year.

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Medina Spirit drew post 9 in the 10-horse Pennsylvania Derby field. That put his two chief competitors, Hot Rod Charlie (5/2) and Midnight Bourbon (5/1) directly inside of him. This unsettled Baffert to the point where he decided shipping the colt to Pennsylvania with that post didn’t make sense.

“I don’t like the way he drew, I wasn’t happy with the draw,�?Baffert told the Albany Times Union’s Tim Wilkin. “I didn’t like the way the race was setting up. There is too much speed. It’s a tough race. I have a lot of respect for the other two horses. There is not much separating them, but I would be at a disadvantage. That’s why I’m passing.�?/p>

Hot Rod Charlie, running his first race since being disqualified for interference in the Haskell Stakes 2-½ months ago, is in post 7. He likely becomes the new favorite. Midnight Bourbon, the victim of Hot Rod Charlie’s interference, drew post 8.

Penn Derby pace didn’t fit Baffert’s eye

All three horses like setting the pace or being near the lead. That set up the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby to be a test of who would blink first. And if all three blinked, which closer would pick up the pieces?

Bob Baffert on pulling Medina Spirit from Pa Derby: "I don't like to put them on a plane unless I feel real good about it. Medina looks good, I just don't like the way the race was setting up. I feel part of my success is knowing when to run and doing what's right for the horse."

— Tim Wilkin (@tjwilkin) September 21, 2021

Instead, Baffert said he’ll send Medina Spirit out against older horses in the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita Park opening weekend on Oct. 2. That would be the first time the son of Protonico faced anyone outside his age group.

If he runs well there, Baffert said the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar is the likely next stop.

Medina Spirit is 3-for-7 this year

Medina Spirit last ran on Aug. 29 in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar, where he scored his third victory of 2021. All three wins were stakes races, joining the Robert B. Lewis and the Derby on the ledger. That Shared Belief victory came after a 3-½-month layoff, stemming from his third in the Preakness Stakes.

“Medina looks good. I just don’t like the way the race was setting up,�?Baffert told Wilkin. “I feel part of my success is knowing when to run and doing what’s right for the horse.�?/p>

Medina Spirit wasn’t the only horse Baffert benched from Parx’s signature weekend. He scratched filly Private Mission from the Penn Derby’s sister race, the Grade 1 Cotillion, where she was 9/2. Baffert told Wilkin Private Mission will stay home in California and run the Grade 2 Zenyatta at Santa Anita.

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“For what this horse has gone through, he’s such a game horse and I wanted to run him here and see if he likes Del Mar. I’ve never had a Derby winner come back and win here, so that’s a first,�?Baffert told Del Mar Sunday.

Medina Spirit’s first race since finishing third in the May 15 Preakness Stakes brought him a 1 ¼-length victory over Rock Your World. The 9/10 favorite went gate-to-wire in his typical, tenacious fashion, winning his third race in seven 2021 starts.

Not a bad afternoon for Baffert, who’s kept a low profile this summer in the wake of Medina Spirit’s positive Derby test for the banned-on-race-day medication betamethasone. Baffert hadn’t planned running Medina Spirit in the Shared Belief until his son, Bode, told him Rock Your World was running. The Hall of Fame trainer called an audible and supplemented the Protonico colt into the field late.

Baffert kept Medina Spirit working

That doesn’t mean Medina Spirit spent the summer on vacation. Baffert worked out the colt at Del Mar four times in August. Three of those produced bullets, including his last outing on Aug. 23. Medina Spirit went five furlongs in 58.6 seconds, the fastest of 69 at that distance.

Baffert may not do well bringing Derby winners to Del Mar, but he does well at Del Mar. That audible and Medina Spirit’s 100 Beyer Speed Figure brought Baffert his 141^st Del Mar stakes title, the most of any trainer.

As for Rock Your World, the Santa Anita Derby winner beat Medina Spirit in that race back in early April. He hadn’t raced since finishing sixth in the June 5 Belmont Stakes. “He ran well. He ran a huge race. He got beat by the winner of the Kentucky Derby,�?Rock Your World jockey Umberto Rispoli said. “What are you going to do? I can’t ask anything more of my horse.�?/p>

Shared Belief sets both up for two different races

So what’s the next ask for both? Both Baffert and Rock Your World’s trainer, John Sadler, may ask their charges to run either the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx or the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita Park. Both come with pros and cons that Baffert and Sadler must factor.

The Sept. 25 Pennsylvania Derby keeps the pair against fellow 3-year-olds, but it requires a cross-country ship. Rock Your World hasn’t handled travel well. Before his also-ran sixth in the Belmont, Rock Your World finished a nightmarish 17^th in the Derby.

The Oct. 2 Awesome Again keeps both colts in their native Santa Anita habitat, and it comes with a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic for the winner. Both trainers have that race circled, but it sends them against older horses, including, possibly, Sadler’s Tripoli. That older horse won a Breeders’ Cup Classic berth courtesy of his Aug. 21 Pacific Classic victory.

Sadler told the Daily Racing Form that both races are “the obvious spots�?/a> for Rock Your World’s next start. Baffert told TVG after Sunday’s race that the Pennsylvania Derby is a possible destination, but the Awesome Again remains on the table.

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The track announced its 2021 fall stakes schedule on Tuesday. The $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, one of the fall’s signature 3-year-old races, headlines the Saturday, Sept. 25 card. Along with the $1 million Cotilion, which sends 3-year-old fillies 1 1/16 miles, the 1 1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby anchors a nine-stakes card that day.

“Other tracks have had a lot of success both from a wagering standpoint and being able to create a buzz running several of their major races on the same card,�?said David Osojnak, Parx’s director of racing, in a statement. “The goal is to continue to expand the Pennsylvania Derby/Cotillion card into one of the premier days in the fall racing schedule.�?/p>

Six of the day’s stakes are graded. Along with the Pennsylvania Derby and Cotillion, Parx will offer the Grade 2 Gallant Bob, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, and three Grade 3s. Those are the Turf Monster (five furlongs on turf for 3-year-olds and up), the Dr. James Penny Memorial (fillies and mares 3-and-up going 1 1/16 miles), and the Greenwood Cup (3-and-up going 1 ½ miles).

Combined, the six graded stakes offer $3 million in purses.

Pennsylvania Derby victim of scheduling

Last year, Parx’s two Grade 1 events were casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the two races hit the sidelines because of pandemic-related scheduling fallout. The revamped 2020 fall Triple Crown schedule — with the Kentucky Derby running in early September and the Preakness on the first Saturday in October — meant there was no room on the schedule for the Pennsylvania Derby.

The Pennsylvania Derby is one of those races that draws respectable fields given its fall place on the schedule. Going into last year, it drew the Kentucky Derby champion twice since 2014. That record doesn’t include standouts like 2018 winner McKinzie, 2017 champion West Coast and 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern. He beat Kentucky Derby champion California Chrome that year.

Along with that stellar card, Parx will offer 12 Pennsylvania-bred races, and all of those stakes will run Lasix-free this year. The track banned the anti-bleeding medication for all its graded stakes races this year.

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Both $1 million races, along with the Turf Amazon Stakes, the Parx Dirt Mile, and the Grade 2 Gallant Bob Stakes were on Parx’s Sept. 26 card. But Parx racing secretary David Osojnak told the Thoroughbred Daily News the track canceled all open stakes races this season.

“We will be going on hiatus. The virus, the plague, just wiped out everything. We think we will be able to come back stronger in 2021,�?Osojnak told TDN.

What wiped out this year’s Pennsylvania Derby, the track’s marquee race and a major fall stop for 3-year-olds, were byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, was the scheduling. Normally run in mid-September �?between Saratoga, Del Mar, and the Breeders’ Cup �?the Pennsylvania Derby gets decent fields.

You’ve Seen Some Quality 3-Year-Olds Here

The Philadelphia-area track drew the Kentucky Derby champion twice since 2014, and recent winners include McKinzie (2018), West Coast (2017), and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion Bayern (2014), who beat Kentucky Derby champion California Chrome that year. War of Will, who won last year’s Preakness, finished third in last year’s Pennsylvania Derby to 31/1 long shot Math Wizard.

This year, however, with the Kentucky Derby moved to Sept. 5 and the Preakness to Oct. 3, the Pennsylvania Derby simply was a victim of scheduling circumstances and its place in the racing food chain.

“It was 50-50. As soon as they moved the Derby, we had a problem,�?Osojnak said. “We would have to run three weeks after the Derby and a week before the Preakness. The way things were working out, it just didn’t make any sense to do so, from a financial standpoint or from where the calendar fell.�?/p>

Parx Illustrates Again Casino Closures Hurt Purses

The second shoe fell with Parx’s on-track casino closing for more than three months as of March 16. While it re-opened on June 29, state regulations only allow it to operate at 50% capacity. That cuts a healthy chunk out of track purses. Osojnak said he’ll use the stakes-bound money to keep purses for overnight races relatively stable.

He told TDN they will be near their 2019 levels, and that a comparison with nearby tracks such as Laurel Park in Maryland, Monmouth in New Jersey, and Delaware Park showed they were comparable, “plus or minus a few thousand dollars.�?/p>

“We are doing OK, and if the casino revenue picks up, I anticipate that the purses will go back up,�?he said.

What Osojnak did with purses is similar to what the New York Racing Association did when it opened Belmont Park’s postponed spring/summer meet in early June. It took money out of stakes events and reallocated it to everyday races including maiden claimers, maiden special weights, and allowances.

Parx does plan on keeping stakes races for Pennsylvania-bred horses. Five of those are scheduled for Sept. 7.

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