Horses You Should Know in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita

Moreno, pictured winning the Charles Town Classic, could get a piece of the purse in Saturday's Gold Cup at Santa Anita. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
The Gold Cup at Santa Anita is one of the most prestigious older horse division races in the country with horses like Game On Dude, Lava Man, Skip Away and Cigar winning it in the last 20 years. The winner of the Gold Cup at Santa Anita gets a Grade 1 win added to his resume, which is always important, but perhaps even more valuable is the “Win and You’re In” ticket the victor earns to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
This year, 11 horses will break from the gate in the Gold Cup but who should you pay some extra attention to? Let’s take a look.
Hoppertunity comes into this race after finishing third in his last two starts. A Grade 1 winner, the colt is coming back two weeks after the Stephen Foster to contend the Gold Cup. Trained by Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert and owned by Baffert’s longtime owners Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman, Hoppertunity is looking to give Pegram and Baffert their first win in the Gold Cup since 1999. Hoppertunity is really familiar with the Santa Anita track, winning two starts and finishing on the board three other times over it. The biggest question for Hoppertunity in this race is that of distance as he has never raced beyond 1 1/8 miles and the Gold Cup is a 1 ¼-mile race.
HOPPERTUNITY

Moreno is one of those predictable horses that you know will go to the front and run until he can’t anymore. A legit concern about Moreno is that he doesn’t get to the wire first most of the time so I probably wouldn’t include him in your win bets if you think any other horse is going to run with him up front. But with five second or third place finishes in his last nine starts (with a pair of wins and an excuse in one of the races where he didn’t hit the board), I’d definitely consider him for your place and show tickets.
Finnegans Wake is an interesting entry in the Gold Cup. The 6-year-old horse is having arguably the best season of his career but so far it has all happened on turf. In fact, the last time Finnegans Wake ran on dirt was in the 2013 Clark Handicap and he’s only run on a real dirt (not synthetic) surface four times in his career with his best finish being a third in the 2012 Gotham Stakes. It makes sense why his connections are running him here as the Gold Cup isn’t as tough as other dirt races he could run into and a Grade 1 on dirt would really help his stallion value. On top of that, he’s having the best season of his career (he has three wins and a second in five starts this year) and he can easily get 1 ¼ miles, as he’s won at distances up to 1 ½ miles. He’s definitely an interesting addition to this field and his half-sister Puca is graded stakes placed on dirt this year, so even though his sire is suspect on the dirt, his female family (and his graded stakes placing on the surface) show that he should have at least some talent on it.
FINNEGANS WAKE

The Gold Cup at Santa Anita is the second Breeders’ Cup Classic “Win and You’re In” race of the year and will be shown live on NBC Sports Network on Saturday evening from 8 to 9 p.m. ET. Those who visit Santa Anita for Saturday’s card will also have the opportunity to see American Pharoah parade between the seventh and eighth races.
$500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes
Saturday, Santa Anita Park, Race 9, Post Time 8 p.m. ET
1 1/4 miles, dirt, 3-year-olds and older
TV: NBCSN 8-9 p.m. ET

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

ML Odds

1

Batti Man

Fernando Perez

Kristin Mulhall

Tom Mansor

TBD

2

Hard Aces

Victor Espinoza

John Sadler

Hronis Racing

TBD

3

Poshsky

Flavien Prat

Peter Miller

Silver Ranch Stable and Wachtel Stable

TBD

4

Motown Men

Tyler Baze

Ted West

Gulliver Racing

TBD

5

Majestic City

Chuck C. Lopez

Richard Baltas

Bloom Racing Stable

TBD

6

Hoppertunity

Martin Garcia

Bob Baffert

Pegram, Watson or Weitman

TBD

7

Big Cazanova

Corey Nakatani

Peter Miller

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, Brous Stable and Dona Licha

TBD

8

Moreno

Cornelio Velasquez

Eric Guillot

Southern Equine Stable

TBD

9

Catch a Flight

Gary Stevens

Richard Mandella

Haras Santa Maria de Araras

TBD

10

Lideris

Joe Talamo

Peter Miller

Dona Licha

TBD

11

Finnegans Wake

Mike Smith

Peter Miller

Donegal Racing or Rockingham Ranch

TBD