[6][7] Boat Racing LLC partners include five former members of the Brown University football team: Reiley Higgins, Patrick O'Neill, Alex Quoyeser, Eric Armagost, and Dan Giovacchini.
[9] Hot Rod Charlie started his career with fourth, third, and fifth-place finishes in three maiden special weight races at Del Mar Racetrack.
[10] Hot Rod Charlie went straight to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland Racecourse, where he nearly pulled a huge upset after running second at odds of 94-1 behind the winner and eventual 2020 Champion Two-Year-Old Essential Quality.
[11] Hot Rod Charlie made his first start as a three-year-old in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park, where he came in third in a blanket finish won by future Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit.
[12] In the Kentucky Derby, Hot Rod Charlie ran a big race under jockey Flavien Prat to cross the wire third behind Medina Spirit and Mandaloun, with Essential Quality fourth.
[17] Sent off at odds of 9–2, he set the fastest early fractions in the history of the race before finishing an ultra-game second after a furious stretch battle with Essential Quality.
When Hot Rod Charlie was entered into the Belmont, Prat honored his prior commitment to ride him rather than to mount Rombauer who also ran the race.
[19][20] On July 17 in the Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey, Hot Rod Charlie crossed the finish line first but was disqualified.
He was well placed in the early going, off the rail or outside a rival, bid alongside the leader on the far turn, battled down the stretch while brushing with Eight Ring, taking a short lead in the straight and was caught at the finishing line.
[27] Hot Rod Charlie won the Group 2 Al Maktoum Challenge, Round 2 on February 4 as a final prep for the World Cup.
[30] Hot Rod Charlie as expected started in the Dubai World Cup, held on March 26 at Meydan in the United Arab Emirates.
Country Grammer crossed the wire 1+3⁄4 lengths in front of Hot Rod Charlie, who grabbed second for a United States exacta, while favorite Life Is Good finished in fourth place.
In a five horse field Hot Rod Charlie was made the 1/5 odds-on favorite but was upset by 2/1 Mind Control after hitting the front in the stretch run, beaten by a head.
[34] On October 1, Hot Rod Charlie faced five other horses including Art Collector, Happy Saver and 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike in the Grade II Lukas Classic Stakes.
As the horses rounded the turn into the stretch Hot Rod Charlie took command but Rich Strike came four wide and took the lead at the sixteenth pole.