Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday), a solid third when last seen in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26, has been given the slight nod at 3-1 on the morning-line for Saturday's GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.
Second, beaten only a nose to Hard Aces (Hard Spun) in last year's renewal, the 2014 GI Clark H. hero ended a nine-race losing skid when narrowly capturing February's GII San Antonio S. Hoppertunity punched his ticket to the Gold Cup after working six furlongs in 1:12 1/5 (4/11) June 18.
“He worked nicely, and I thought, 'Well, I want to run him here and then the [GIII] Cougar at Del Mar [July 24],” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. “He's a mile and a quarter horse, but even if he doesn't win, the Gold Cup should set him up [moving forward].”
After watching Hoppertunity gallop Friday morning, Baffert added, “I liked the way he went. He may be a work short for the race, but he went well this morning, so we plan to run.”
Melatonin (Kodiak Kowboy) proved his 16-1 upset in the GI Santa Anita H. Mar. 12 wasn't a fluke with a solid runner-up finish to Effinex (Mineshaft) in the GII Oaklawn H. most recently Apr. 16. He is unbeaten in three previous attempts in Arcadia and has bullets for his return. “We freshened the horse up because he's going to have a tough go this fall [leading up to the Breeders' Cup Classic],” trainer David Hofmans said. “He's got a good post. We're on the outside and the other speed in the race is inside of us, so he can dictate what he wants to do. It will be up to [jockey] Joe [Talamo].”
The streaking Second Summer (Summer Bird) continues to elevate his game since turning four. The chestnut followed a pair of optional claiming tallies with a sharp victory at odds of 9-1 over Hard Aces and Lieutenant Colonel (Colonel John) in Santa Anita's GII Californian S. last time May 22.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
