Hoppertunity should be fitter for Gold Cup

When Hollywood Park closed at the end of 2013, its signature race for older horses was rechristened the Gold Cup at Santa Anita. The $500,000 purse, the distance at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, and its position in early summer remained the same despite a venue change.

Another mainstay has been the presence of a leading runner trained by Bob Baffert. From 2011 to 2013, Baffert won the Hollywood Gold Cup each year with either First Dude and Game On Dude. Last year, Game On Dude was fourth as the 4-5 favorite behind Majestic Harbor in the first Gold Cup at Santa Anita.

For Saturday’s Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Baffert will run the three-time stakes winner Hoppertunity, who was third in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 13. Again, Baffert has a runner who merits respect.

The Foster was Hoppertunity’s first start since a third behind Shared Belief and California Chrome in the $590,000 San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 7.

“He needed a race when I ran him last time,” Baffert said on Wednesday. “He came out of the race sharp. He’s doing well.”

Hoppertunity worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Tuesday, an exercise that clinched his participation in the Gold Cup. Baffert described the workout as “pretty good. He worked the way we wanted him to.”

Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Hoppertunity has won 4 of 10 starts and earned $1,179,675. The Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs last November is his most prestigious win. The Gold Cup at Santa Anita will be Hoppertunity’s first start at 1 1/4 miles.

The race is projected to have a large field, led by Catch a Flight, a two-time stakes winner at Santa Anita this spring; Finnegans Wake, the multiple stakes winner on turf; and Moreno, who won the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 18 and was second to Catch a Flight in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes on May 30.