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ranchandcoast.com 68 JULY 2023 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE detour equestrian PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARLA ZANELLI Hot Rod Charlie e evolution of the ride of a lifetime A NYONE IN THE BUSINESS OF owning racehorses dreams of the one that becomes a champion. Many will go a lifetime and not achieve that dream. But every now and then, there is a story that gets larger than life with the excitement it brings to all those lucky enough to be in it. is is such a story — about an average- bred horse, a breeder, a father and son bloodstock team, a bunch of fun-loving guys and gals who were lucky enough to be the owners, and a trainer, whose motto is "Why not us?" e more prominent thoroughbred sales are in Kentucky, and this is where Hot Rod Charlie was first purchased out of a dispersal sale by Bob and Sean Feld, a father-and-son bloodstock team. ey were at the February 2019 Fasig-Tipton Sale shopping for a bargain. ey took a look at the Oxbow colt in the James M Herbener Jr consignment, and liked what they saw. is colt was the half-brother to the champion Mitole, but the colt was not popular with buyers because of his sire, Oxbow. e Felds nabbed the colt for a measly $17,000. e goal was to put him back into the sale ring at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale, the last of the yearling sales in Kentucky for that year. Entered into the Fasig-Tipton Sale, the Oxbow colt was Hip #631 with no name yet — just an Oxbow colt out of Indian Miss by Indian Charlie, born April 11, 2018. e experienced Feld team sold the colt to Dennis O'Neill for $110,000, a bloodstock agent who has purchased many good horses, including Kentucky Derby winners I'll Have Another and Nyquist. O'Neill then went looking for his buyer and the colt was syndicated to three different groups of owners. e majority owner who stepped up to purchase 50 percent of the Oxbow colt was Greg Helm's Roadrunner Racing. Greg and BY MARLA ZANELLI