4/19/2025

  1   OP    The OP Hcp (GII)         

$1,250.000      4yo&Up           1^1/8th Mile   Dirt      Weights As Assigned

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As the OP meet comes to a close, we look at a very strong field of twelve set to go a mile and an eighth in The OP Hcp (GII), and this is a race that has some real intrigue in it… at least to me.   If someone had told you a while back that Individuation and Baffert would have one win between then dating back to Jan of last season, they would probably have laughed at you… yet, here we are.

Well, that didn’t stop me from putting them right on top today, and I’m taking Baffert to get the job done… he looked good in his seasonal debut, a runner-up effort in the GP Mile (GII) and I really don’t think that’s his best distance.  Still, he closed fast, the race was rapid and the works say he’s ready to fire a big one, today.  He has a pair of seconds and a fifth over this surface… good enough for me. 

I’ll take Individuation in the second spot, that one running third (DH) in the SA Hcp (GI) last out.  At six years old, you have to wonder if the tough races are taking their toll on the classy guy, but he’s got it all, and I don’t think you can stick a fork in him, quite yet.  He was second in the Rebel and fifth in the OP Mile, both over this track… so he knows his way around.

Weight will be a factor, I think… but let’s get a good spot to take this one in, it looks like a real doozy.   

Here’s The Field –  

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1		Big Bang Boom		Rock Creek		4Husbands P		120		9/2
2		The Chieftain		Mo Mentum Farm		2Hernandez R M		118		7/1
3		Up In Class		Mo Mentum Farm		Moore R L		(+1)118		8/1
4		General Zod		Royalty Stables		3Lopez P		119		6/1
5		Individuation		Mb Stables		1Velazquez J R		118		6/1
6		Evgenii		Night Rider Stables		2Franco M		118		12/1
7		Red Bull		D J C Racing Stables		5Centeno D E		117		12/1
8		Mr Toxic		Spankys Barn		1Gaffalione T		118		10/1
9		Baffert		Royalty Stables		3Ortiz I Jr		119		5/1
10		One Last Punch Line		Saratoga Stud		3Ortiz J L		120		12/1
11		Eight West Party		TwinTowersRacing		1Geroux F		121		8/1
12		Ocala Secret		Grimley		4Carmouche K		120		5/1
13		Buck My Life		Luz International						SCR

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COZMAN  9 / 5         Willie’s Green Card  3 / 5 / 1

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