SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As he was walked in a circle outside of Barn 74 on a warm Wednesday morning at sun-soaked Saratoga, Hot Rod Charlie would frequently stop in the same spot, posing for the assembled still and cell-phone photographers that recorded his every step. When it was suggested that Hot Rod Charlie should save his posing for Saturday afternoon when he runs in the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes here, part-owner Bill Strauss injected, “Ain’t that the truth!” For as solid a résumé as Hot Rod Charlie has put together in his 16-race career, there are still some gut-wrenching runner-up finishes on the form that, if he had finished one spot higher in even one of them, would make it look a whole lot better. In 2020, he was second, albeit at 94-1, to Essential Quality in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. At 3, Hot Rod Charlie ran an ambitious race in the Belmont Stakes, only to again finish second to Essential Quality. This year, the early season goal for Hot Rod Charlie was the $12 million Dubai World Cup where he finished – you guessed it – second to Country Grammer, even as he finished a half-length in front of fourth-place finisher Life Is Good. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “He’s been the most exciting horse I’ve ever owned,. He’s also the most frustrating horse I’ve ever owned at the same time because of all those bad beats,” Strauss said Wednesday. “Some are bad luck, some are he has a bit of a pack-animal mentality. His talent is not to be questioned, his heart is not to be questioned, but I’d love to get that victory, get a big one over a big horse. We have a Grade 1, but we should have a couple.” Hot Rod Charlie’s Grade 1 came in last year’s Pennsylvania Derby. Saturday’s Whitney offers Hot Rod Charlie an opportunity to get a big win over a couple of big horses, namely Life Is Good, as well as Olympiad, in what is a six-horse field. Also entered in the Whitney, a 1 1/8-mile race which offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Classic, are Grade 1 winners Americanrevolution and Happy Saver as well as the popular claimer Zoomer. Hot Rod Charlie’s seconditis continued in the June 18 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park, where he was beaten a nose by Mind Control. Leandro Mora, the longtime assistant to Hot Rod Charlie’s trainer, Doug O’Neill, said jockey Mike Smith apologized to all parties concerned for riding overconfident in that spot. In the Dubai World Cup, Hot Rod Charlie took a ton of dirt while racing fifth early. It wasn’t until Flavien Prat found room to rally him along the rail that Charlie kicked and got up for second. “The dirt kicked heavier than anywhere else he went,” Mora said. “He was against it the whole trip. Most horses would not try it.” Hot Rod Charlie, who arrived here Tuesday morning from Keeneland, where he’s been based since returning from Dubai, will have blinkers added for the Whitney. He has worn them in seven of his races, though not in his last four starts. Mora said that Hot Rod Charlie has white rings around the outside of both his eyes. In Mora’s experience, those types of horses have a tendency “to dodge here and there,” he said. “We’ll put a little small blinker on him to focus more,” Mora said. :: DRF's Saratoga headquarters – Stakes schedule, previews, recaps, past performances, and more Hot Rod Charlie, who will again be ridden by Prat, drew post 2 in the Whitney. Strauss liked that draw because he wants Prat to put Hot Rod Charlie in the race and not let Life Is Good, who drew post 6, get an easy lead. Americanrevolution, winner of the 2021 Cigar Mile, drew the rail. Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar Farm, part-owner of Americanrevolution, said he will evaluate the race a little more with trainer Todd Pletcher before deciding whether or not to run. WinStar also owns Life Is Good, the favorite. “Americanrevolution is training really, really well,” Walden said. “I like the one hole for him, because he saves all the ground around the first turn. It puts him in a good position behind the speed without having to work to get there. We’ll see how it plays out. It’s still undecided at this point.” The Whitney will go as race 10 on a 12-race card that begins at 12:35 p.m. Eastern. NBC will show the Whitney as well as the Grade 1 Test, topped by Acorn winner Matareya, in a one-hour telecast beginning at 5 p.m.