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Saturday’s Gold Cup at Santa Anita is the ‘Big Race’ for the meet

By Liz O'Connell

ARCADIA, CA - FEBRUARY 06: Hoppertunity
ARCADIA, CA - FEBRUARY 06: Hoppertunity /
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The $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita is the Spring/Summer Meet’s big race. Eight battle-hardened horses are looking to hit the wire first to take home the $300,000 winner’s share of the Gold Cup and punch their all-expenses-paid ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The Gold Cup at Santa Anita showcases four top older horses on Saturday at the Arcadia, California oval. Hoppertunity, Imperative and Melatonin will meet up with Hard Aces, winner of the 2015 Gold Cup, and four others over the 1 ¼ mile test on the dirt.

Along with its total purse of $500,000, the Gold Cup is also a designated Breeders’ Cup Challenge Race. The winner will automatically qualify for a berth in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic with all entry fees paid, which for the Classic run $150,000. If the winner is from outside California, the Breeders’ Cup offers a stipend of $10,000 to cover travel and related expenses; international winners receive a $40,000 stipend. It’s not surprising that a Breeders’ Cup Challenge win is coveted by owners and trainers.

Hoppertunity, Imperative, Melatonin and Hard Aces have all knocked heads before in assorted combinations. It’s a competitive quartet, with Hoppertunity favored in the morning line odds at 3/1. Although Hard Aces won the 2015 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, this year he’s placed in only two out of five starts, earning him morning line odds of 6/1

The following is the field for the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, in order of draw, with age, rider, trainer and morning line odds:

  1. Bal a Bali, 6-years-old, Flavien Prat (jockey), Richard Mandella (trainer), 5-1
  2. Second Summer, 4-years-old, Mario Gutierrez (jockey), Peter Eurton (trainer), 6-1
  3. Hard Aces, 6-years-old, Santiago Gonzalez (jockey), John Sadler (trainer), 6-1
  4. Lieutenant Colonel, 4-years-old, Martin Garcia (jockey), Jerry Hollendorfer (trainer), 6-1
  5. Win the Space, 4-years-old, Gary Stevens (jockey), George Papaprodromou (trainer), 20-1
  6. Hoppertunity, 5-years-old, Mike Smith (jockey), Bob Baffert (trainer), 3-1
  7. Melatonin, 5-years-old, Joe Talamo (jockey), David E. Hofmans (trainer), 7-2
  8. Imperative, 6-years-old, Rafael Bejarano (jockey), Richard Baltas (trainer), 9-2

NBCSN will air the Gold Cup at Santa Anita on Saturday, June 25 from 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ET.

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