By Alan Carasso
Hopkins (Quality Road) gave his outstanding Lane's End-based stallion a sixth 'quality' winner over the course of the last five days, kicking clear late to easily prevail in Sunday's GIII Palos Verdes S. at the Great Race Place.
Nicely away from gate two beneath Juan Hernandez, the $900,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was content to lay second as Straight No Chaser (Speightster)–favored by about $900– drilled the opening couple of furlongs in :21.80. Asked to claim the front-runner as the half went up in a slick :44.10, Hopkins hit the front leaving the three-sixteenths pole and, though unwilling to swap over to his correct lead, kept on well to score in smart time.
“I just played the break and I just watched the other horses,” said Hernandez. “I saw the one [Straight No Chaser] broke really fast, he broke way better than me, and I broke better than the outside horses. So, I just let him go and sat behind him and waited for the quarter pole to ask my horse to go…When I asked him…he picked it up really well and he got the job done.”
Having run a 104 Beyer in defeat on opening day 2021, Hopkins graduated in his second start off a nine-month absence last October and ran back to that effort with a hard-fought allowance win at Del Mar the following month. Sixth to stablemate Country Grammer (Tonalist) when trying a route of ground for the first time in the Dec. 26 GII San Antonio S., he cut back to this trip and was tagged late to drop a head decision when last seen Jan. 15. Hopkins has been given an entry for the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Mar. 25.
Pedigree Notes:
Hopkins is the 68th stakes winner and 33th graded winner for Quality Road and is bred on the same cross over mares by Deputy Minister or Deputy Minister-line mares as Grade I winners Abel Tasman, City of Light and Spring Quality and other graded winners Guest Suite and Long Haul Bay.
John Mayer's Nursery Place purchased Hopkins's stakes-placed dam for $85,000 in foal to Morning Line at the 2015 Keeneland January Sale about four months after the mare's son Saratoga Heater (Temple City) became a stakes winner in New York-bred company. Madaket Stables, a part-owner of Hopkins, is also involved with Hot Spell's 4-year-old son Of a Revolution, a narrowly beaten runner-up in last year's GIII Gallant Bob S. at Parx Racing.
After not producing a live foal for two seasons, Hot Spell dropped a Daredevil filly in 2022 and was put in foal to American Pharoah.
Sunday, Santa Anita Park
PALOS VERDES S.-GIII, $200,500, Santa Anita, 2-5, 4yo/up, 6f, 1:08.80, ft.
1–HOPKINS, 120, h, 5, by Quality Road
1st Dam: Hot Spell (SP), by Salt Lake
2nd Dam: Sizzlin' Sara, by Saratoga Six
3rd Dam: Relasure, by Relaunch
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($900,000
Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket
Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Golconda Stable, Siena
Farm LLC and Robert E. Masterson; B-Nursery Place (KY);
T-Bob Baffert; J-Juan J. Hernandez. $120,000. Lifetime Record:
7-3-3-0, $244,700. *1/2 to Of a Revolution (Maclean's Music),
MGSP, $218,280; 1/2 to Saratoga Heater (Temple City), SW,
$396,078. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Radical Right, 120, g, 4, First Samurai–Emily, by Sky Mesa.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($42,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP;
$260,000 3yo '22 FTIDEC). O-Tom Kagele; B-Richard Shultz (KY);
T-Peter Miller. $40,000.
3–Straight No Chaser, 120, c, 4, Speightster–Margarita Friday,
by Johannesburg. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($110,000 2yo '21 EASMAY). O-MyRacehorse; B-John Eaton &
Steve Laymon (KY); T-Dan Blacker. $24,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1HF, 1. Odds: 2.10, 6.00, 2.10.
Also Ran: Howbeit, McLaren Vale, Escape Route.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO,
sponsored by TVG.
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