Hooper (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
January 23, 2021

The Hooper is a smaller Grade 3 that is a part of the card at GP on Saturday, and it will be the 16th time that the race is run within the game. You would not know that we are only racing for a $150.000 purse as there are several horses here who have accomplished a great deal over their careers. They will go up against several others who are the typical crowd that you would see in a race like this, so it could be a great victory for one of them to top one of the bigger names that this race has to offer. Last year, TwinTowersRacing got the Hooper trophy thanks to Long Term Investment. Unfortunately for the trainer, that “investment” has not paid another winning dividend. As for our race this year, we have eleven going to the gate. Let’s take a look at them!

#1- Iguacu Falls (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- On the rail, this four year old was able to win two of his eleven starts in 2020, with the biggest score being a $75.000 ungraded stake in his last start. He has had several attempts over his career at the graded level, but has not finished better than third in any of them. If it is going to happen, it may be right now, though, as he has run quite well since the fall.

#2- Broken Tap (Arindel, ridden by E Jaramillo)- No one in this field has made more over their careers than Broken Tap, who has surpassed the $1,300.000 mark in earnings. Success in FL bred stakes as a two year old helped with that figure, and that trend continued into 2019. He only raced once in his bread and butter last year, coming in January when he was third in the SSM Classic. Appeared in the BC Dirt Mile, and ran respectably, placing sixth. Should be poised to get a great result, if not a win, here.

#3- Invercargill (Gdp Inc, ridden by Ru Fuentes)- The Hardline gelding will be making the 21st start of his career, and hopes that it can result in his first graded win. Over his career, he has mostly been seen in high level optional claimers or allowances, and he has been successful in them. Managed one stake win, the $150.000 KY Cup Classic last Spring. This really seems to be a horse that is on the cusp of picking up a graded win at some point, and we’ll probably see him at this level more often during the year.

#4- Born A Diplomat (Night Rider Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- This is a relative new arrival to the Night Rider fold, as the trainer picked him up in a $50.000 claimer last October, a race that was a considerable drop down for him. After all, a month prior he was running in the Woodward. Made his debut for Night Rider in late November at the DED mile and has been idle since the third place finish. Jockey E J Zayas has started the year cold, with no wins in his first 30 starts, but this is not the trainer to worry about that.

#5- Play Along (Fractious, ridden by T Gaffalione)- It will be his debut for Fractious here in the Hooper, and based on that purchase price, he is expecting big things. He was picked up in mid December for $250.000 price, so he sees something in this gelding with $140.000 in career earnings up to this point. He’s been close in some top notch graded sprints, and goes a mile for the first time. Works great, now we’ll see if he just wanted a little more distance.

#6- Anthony Van Dyck (Nakamura Stables, ridden by J A Bracho)- It took this horse nine tries to break his maiden, and that includes a few times at the maiden claiming level, while passing through a couple barns in the process. Once he won, Nakamura entered him into a smaller ungraded stake, and he was competitive in a third place run. Moving him off the turf and onto the main track has resulted in his horse running better, but this is a tough assignment right now in his career.

#7- Telladifferentstory (Nakamura Stables, ridden by L Saez)- There are two in this field from Nakamura, and this one has the better resume coming into the race. Overall, he’s won five times in fifteen starts, and that includes three times during 2020. The highlight of that is the Grade 3 Winn last May. You may remember his name from some TC preps, but he might be better suited for running a race like this. I like how he worked on the 2nd at the Big A.

#8- Canardly (Greeko Holdem, ridden by D Davis)- Picked up cheaply in October compared to some of the other purchase prices we see in this race. Greeko Holdem needed just $20.000 to get him in private sales, and just six days later he was winning a NM bred stake with him. Since then, he has hit the board in two graded stakes with quite a close call in the ONT Derby. Makes his 2021 debut, and this should be an interesting year for him.

#9- Saturday Khartoum (Rousee, ridden by J J Castellano)– For a while now, Saturday Khartoum has been the top horse in this stable, so it is really good to see that he has been able to have sustained success with him rather then seeing him fizzle out. The now seven year old gelding won twice in 2020, including the Grade 3 Westchester in May. He also won his last start, an open allowance, so is ready to roll here on Saturday.

#10- Rendezvous (Waldo, ridden by J Alvarado)- After a decent two year old season, the trainer hoped that Rendezvous would step up into some TC races, and initially there was some potential there. In the long run, that did not pan out, but we also have not seen him all that much. He made only six starts in 2020, and has run just once since September, but maybe that will pay off for him into his four year old season.

#11- Grandstand Jockey (John Henry, ridden by J R Velazquez)- We finish this look at the Hooper with one of the bigger names in this race, as Grandstand Jockey has made close to $1,000.000 for his career. A lot of that came with Night Rider Stables, but he is clicking nicely with John Henry, and ran second in the Grade 1 Malibu the day after Christmas on the heels of having been fifth in the BC Dirt Mile. The only negative with him here is this starting post. He is one of the horses to beat.

#12- Relate- Scratched

Prediction: 3-2-11-9 … Yeah, I’m going outside the box a little, but staying in the box with predictions does not always pan out, either.

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES