Owner Mike Pegram is no stranger to Spring Classics success. He’s won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Real Quiet in 1998 and added another Preakness trophy in 2010 with Lookin at Lucky. That son of Smart Strike was owned in partnership with Karl Watson and Paul Weitman and that trio is also in on Hoppertunity, winner of the roller derby down the strech in Saturday’s Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
Hoppertunity is a son of the Distorted Humor stallion Any Given Saturday, this writer’s choice to take home the2007 Kentucky Derby ultimately won by Street Sense. Those two runners both retired to the Darley America stallion barn but Street Sense is also getting the better of his rival in their second careers. Any Given Saturday was demoted from the ‘majors’ of Central Kentucky to Pennsylvania where he now stands for a $5,000 service fee. Street Sense, on the other hoof, still resides in Kentucky (after spending 2013 in Japan) and commands a $40,000 fee. Hoppertunity is a member of Any Given Saturday’s fourth crop and is his very first graded stakes winner in North America, explanation enough for his exile to Pennsylvania.
Any Given Saturday’s sire career was already teetering when trainer Bob Baffert went to $300,000 to secure Hoppertunity at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling sale. That’s the highest price paid for an Any Given Saturday yearling. One of the best judges of young horses on the planet regardless of pedigree, Baffert was also no doubt drawn to the female side of Hoppertunity’s catalog page. He’s a half-brother to Executivepriviliege, who had captured the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante for Baffert and the Pegram/Watson/Weitman partnership a couple of weeks before Hoppertunity went through the ring at Keeneland.
Executivepriviliege added another Grade 1 in the fall of 2012 and was runner-up to dual champion Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. She never came close to that form as a sophomore, a bit of a concern when projecting Hoppertunity’s onward development. However, their dam, Refugee, was graded-placed at 12 furlongs at age four and is by Unaccounted For, a top quality two-turn runner by Private Account. A little further back in this pedigree we find Filly Triple Crown winner (yes, there used to be one in New York) Davona Dale. Among her progeny is Le Voyageur, third behind Easy Goer and Sunday Silence in the1989 Belmont Stakes.
Hoppertunity was a little wider than he needed to be going through the first turn in the Rebel, but Mike Smith had the colt in a good rhythm on the backstretch and they found a perfect stalking spot behind early leaders Strong Mandate and Ride on Curlin. One could argue that Southwest Stakes winner Tapiture was best in the Rebel after being caught behind Strong Mandate and Ride on Curlin turning for home with Smith and Hoppertunity holding the ground to his outside. There was certainly a good amount of contact between all four of those horses down the straight with the majority of it caused by Ride on Curlin, who drifted out into Strong Mandate, who in turn pushed Tapiture out to brush with Hoppertunity.
Mike Smith described Hoppertunity’s reaction to all the bumping this way:
“When it happened, boy, he really jumped into the bridle. The best part of the race was his last three jumps. He was really starting to reach at that point. These young horses, when they go a route of ground, you really pay attention to how they gallop out and pull up. After a hard race like that, man, it didn’t take him long to collect himself.”
It’s been well documented that no horse since the Cretaceous period has won the Kentucky Derby without having started as a juvenile. Hoppertunity is on track to be the latest to try and end that streak and a tough race like the Rebel should only benefit him in terms of experience.
Hoppertunity’s win also flatters Intense Holiday who defeated him by 7 lengths in the Risen Star Stakes on February 22. Those two aren’t scheduled to meet again until Derby Day, should all go right for both camps. We’ll find out after the Louisiana and Arkansas Derbies who moves on and who falls out.
Matt O'Neil Consulting 