The Hopeful (Grade 1)- $300.000 Purse
SAR- For Two Year Olds
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
September 6, 2021

Every year, the Grade 1 Hopeful is the final stake of the meet at SAR. It concludes what has been a memorable stretch of racing with many great moments taking place. It ends with a promise, or a hope, of greatness in the future. In the gate will be a collection of promising two year olds, some of which might be back at SAR next year to run in races like the Travers. Before they get there, perhaps they will take part in the TC races, and maybe even win one of them. The names that have won this race in the past are quite impressive, indeed. In 2020, Locamotive would get the win, a result that was his first ever graded win. He, of course, went on to do great things as a three year old, and won the Haskell this July. Also in the field was a fourth place finisher named Tko, who won the Jerkens Memorial here last week. Not everyone will go on to great things, however. Fifth place Spectre has since been deactivated from the game. Third place Time It Vb was never able to hit the board again (but did well finishing seventh). On Monday, all ten of our horses enter the starting gate with the same dream. They are hopeful that they can be one of the new greats that a year from now, will have a name that we will all immediately recognize, just like Locamotive and Tko. Let’s meet the field!

#1- Head Cannon (Jive Inc., ridden by M Franco)- On the rail, this gelding by Indistinguishable has won once in three starts, with that coming in May at EMD. After that race, he had about three months to prepare for the ELP Juvenile, and turned in a second place showing. His works were showing a trend of improvement, but he does not have a public work after that race. Seems like he will be in the mix here, with the main question being just how good can he be.

#2- Hilarity (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Right now, you would have to say that Hilarity has an inside track on being one of those top horses that come back to the Spa next year for more Grade 1’s. He is a perfect three for three in his career thus far, and he has already won two graded stakes. First came the Grade 3 Bashford Manor, and then he won the Grade 2 SAR Special here last month. We expect quality from this barn, and this two year old is no laughing matter in this field.

#3- Come To Poppa (South Shore Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- In his second start, he would break his maiden at TAM, coming on the first of May. Since then, he has not been as impressive, running seventh in an allowance at LS, and then being a complete non factor in the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes. He works well and those show that he belongs in this field, but he is going to have to start translating that to the track, and it will need to begin here.

#4- Disciplinary (Tacaro Farm, ridden by A Cedillo)- This would be a great score for this trainer, and he has already picked up one big win at this meet already. That came in the Grade 3 Sanford, in the mud, which Disciplinary won by a length for his second win in three starts. He’s working well with a particularly strong work at MTH recently. Rested and ready roll, you’ll want to keep an eye on this one!

#5- Croton Road (Fractious, ridden by A Cedillo)- Looking at the works on this one, you have to think he is really going to show his talents when he starts running a mile or more. In the meantime, he will have to settle for seven furlongs here and will need to be a lot better than he was in his last start, when he was eighth in the Best Pal. That race saw him be gelded five days later, and it makes him all the more interesting in this race.

#6- Orange Chicken (Arindel, ridden by T Gaffalione)- This one caught the attention of virtual trainers early with his great performance in the DMR trials, and he has been able to translate that to success on the race track. He’s been first or second in all but one of his starts thus far, highlighted by being the runner up in the Bashford Manor. His last start was a dud, but it came in the mud at the Sanford, so perhaps that result can be blamed on that. Doesn’t need to win here, but a good bounce back from that would be nice to see.

#7- Dumb Luck (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- This colt was last seen north of the border on the last day of July for the $125.000 Victoria Stakes at WO. He would finish second in the race, narrowly missing out in a photo for what would have been his second career win. His four starts thus far also show a pair of sixth place efforts which we hope are just a product of being a young horse.

#8- Proud Bo (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by S Ryan)- Has a lot in common with the horse starting right beside him. First being that he also comes out of the Victoria Stakes, but he would not finish as well, placing sixth. In that race, he had to start from the 12 post. He also has two sixth places finishes in his four career starts, another tidbit that he has in common with Dumb Luck. For him as well then, hopefully that is just a product of being a two year old.

#9- Statuesque (Mb Stables, ridden by E Jaramillo)- Back when Hilarity was winning the SAR Special for Mb Stables, the trainer was actually able to enjoy a 1-2 finish as Statuesque completed the exacta. This was the same position that he finished in for the Grade 3 Sanford here in the mud in July, so he has been making the rounds in the three big graded races for two year olds here. Was third in the Tremont before that, and he should be a threat here as well.

#10- Uranus (Smokey Stover, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- So far, this horse is perfect in his racing career by winning each of his two starts. After winning in early April on debut, he had quite a bit of time to rest, and was gelded in the meantime. He would reappear three weeks ago at the ELP Juvenile, and won the $125.000 race. Has good mile works, but doesn’t have a shorter public work since April, interestingly enough.

Prediction: 3-6-4-10

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES