Hoppertunity Comes Knocking

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert continued his assault on Oaklawn Park's GII Rebel S. via a courageous performance by Watson, Pegram and Weitman's Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday). The half-brother to these connections' MGISW Executiveprivilege (First Samurai)–a sneaky-good fourth at third asking in the GII Risen Star S. Feb. 22–survived a claim of foul and stewards' inquiry to give Baffert his fourth win in five years in this race following the exploits of Lookin at Lucky ('10); The Factor ('11); and Secret Circle ('12). Tapiture (Tapit) was second, beaten a half length as the 2-1 favorite. Ride On Curlin (Curlin) was third. 

“Bob [Baffert] is in charge and he knows what to do,” winning co-owner Mike Pegram commented. “I'm just having fun being a passenger. He looks like he'll go a mile-and-a-quarter and I wouldn't trade places with nobody. He's a nice horse and he proved it today. What you really want to see is a horse that will fight, and he showed it when he got bumped in there and held his ground. He responded. He's a fighter. We will run in some Derby. His next race will be a Derby if he comes out good out of here.” 

Hoppertunity, a debut fifth behind the promising unbeaten “TDN Rising Star” Bayern (Offlee Wild) going seven furlongs at Santa Anita Jan. 4, stretched to a mile with a good-looking maiden win in Arcadia Jan. 30. He fell too far behind early beneath Martin Garcia and finished with interest to come within seven lengths of Intense Holiday (Harlan's Holiday) in the Risen Star. Switching to Mike Smith here, Hoppertunity was in the race from the beginning, and sat in the garden spot in third on the outside behind Strong Mandate (Tiznow) and Ride On Curlin through a half mile in :47.97. He hit the gas on the far turn, effectively keeping Tapiture boxed in, but the GIII Southwest S. hero bulled his way through, while racing shoulder-to-shoulder as they stacked up across the track. Ride on Curlin drifted out and caused a chain reaction in deep stretch, but it only seemed to help Hoppertunity, who came charging widest of all to get the money. 

“Mike [Smith] said he just started running when he got bumped,” assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said. “That just made him run faster. He's tough. That was only his fourth race so that was exciting and I'm glad we came.” 

Saturday, Oaklawn Park 
REBEL S.-GII, $600,000, OPX, 3-15, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43 4/5, wf. 
1–#@HOPPERTUNITY, 117, c, 3, by Any Given Saturday 
     1st Dam: Refugee (GSP, $114,070), by 
Unaccounted For 
     2nd Dam: Polish Maid, by Danzig 
     3rd Dam: Davona Dale, by Best Turn 
($300,000 yrl '12 KEESEP). O-Karl Watson, Michael Pegram & Paul 
Weitman; B-Betz/DJ Stable/Kidder/J Betz/Robenalt (KY); T-Bob 
Baffert; J-Mike Smith. $360,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-0-0, $410,720. 
*1/2 to Executiveprivilege (First Samurai), MGISW, $999,000; Profit 
(Not For Love), MSP, $180,285. Click for the 
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+. 
2–Tapiture, 122, c, 3, Tapit–Free Spin, by Olympio. O/B-Winchell 
Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven Asmussen. $120,000. 
3–Ride On Curlin, 117, c, 3, Curlin–Magical Ride, by Storm Cat. 
($25,000 yrl '12 KEESEP). O-Daniel Dougherty; B-G Watts Humphrey 
Jr & Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust – 2 (KY); T-William G 
Gowan. $60,000. 
Margins: HF, HF, 1HF. Odds: 6.10, 2.00, 11.70. 
Also Ran: Strong Mandate, Sheltowee's Boy, Street Strategy, Kobe's Back, Jet Cat. Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.