Hooper (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
January 23, 2021
Heading into the Hooper, Broken Tap seemed as though he would be one of the horses to beat in a field that was much tougher than one might have expected to see for a smaller Grade 3. His run in the Cigar Handicap, which followed the BC Dirt Mile was concerning enough for me to not make him my top pick, though it was good to see him put that aside and run a strong race here on Saturday. This Hooper victory is the first for his trainer, Arindel, who probably finds an HRP stake win at GP to be a little extra sweet. E Jaramillo is the winning jockey, and it is his first win in this stake as well. Congratulations to them! The race went in a time of 1:34.55, the second quickest in the history of the race. Let’s take a look!
(¼ Mile- :23.75)- Saturday Khartoum, trained by Rousee, gets off to an excellent start, and opens up a length advantage fairly quickly. However, the size of that lead is short lived as Canardly, from Greeko Holdem pulls up alongside him just as they hit this point. Iguacu Falls stalks these two while on the rail for D J C Racing Stables, and he will have the eventual winner of the race, Arindel’s Broken Tap right to his outside. Telladifferentstory stalks the stalkers in fifth to the outside, and he has Waldo’s Rendezvous to his outside. Invercargill is next for Gdp Inc, then comes Anthony Van Dyck (Nakamura Stables) and Born A Diplomat (Night Rider Stables). It’s a break of two to Play Along (Fractious) and at the back, it’s Grandstand Jockey (John Henry), who got off to a very odd looking start.
(½ Mile- :47.27)- Soon in the backstretch, Canardly would pass Saturday Khartoum for the lead, but he was not going to be happy with merely doing that. Instead, he would power out to a three length lead. Approaching the turn, Iguacu Falls slips ahead of Saturday Khartoum for the second spot as they let Canardly run on the lead all to himself. Broken Tap Inches forward here, and is looking to complete the pass for third just prior to entering the turn. Invercargill is still stuck in the middle of the field, likely waiting for his time to strike. Further back, there is not much change in how they run.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Canardly remains ambitious throughout the turn, holding on to his lead as long as he could, but approaching the exit of the turn, he would see that advantage of his diminish. Both Broken Tap and Saturday Khartoum were closing in on him, but Canardly was not going to let it be easy, looking like he would still be a worthy foe in the stretch. Iguacu Falls was starting to lose ground to those he was running around at this point. Invercargill held his line, but was not making a push, though Telladifferentstory was starting to show a little more interest. Rendezvous tried a wide move to no avail, and others at the back needed to get moving now if they were going to make an impact.
(Finish- 1:34.55)- In the stretch, Broken Tap showed plenty of heart to first win the duel with Saturday Khartoum, and then to get up to the lead and complete the pass of Canardly to pick up the win. Give Canardly second, by half a length over Saturday Khartoum. Telladifferentstory’s late run earns him the fourth place check, beating Invercargill by half a length. Further back, the rest of the field were non-factors, with the ending running order being Iguaca Falls, Anthony Can Dyck, Play Along, Born A Diplomat, and Grandstand Jockey.
About The Winner- Broken Tap, trained by Arindel and ridden to victory by E Jaramillo, is a six year old gelding by Snow Tap, and is out of Lady of Vein. He was bred by Our Athletes in Florida as a first quarter two year old, and acquired by Arindel for $20.000 in a June 2019 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his 11th in 32 starts, his ninth stake win, and third graded win. It’s his fourth career win at GP, and his career earnings are now $1,397.150.
Track: Fast
Time: :233 :471 1:102 1:342
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 2 – 8 Paid 50.50
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 8 – 9 Paid 122.40
Scratched: Relate
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
