Sporting Chance Bolts, Hangs on in Hopeful

Robert Baker and William Mack's Sporting Chance bolted to the outside in deep stretch, but still held on to win the $350,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1) by a neck over favored Free Drop Billy at Saratoga Race Course Sept. 4.

A son of Tiznow , Sporting Chance covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.71. His sharp move out in the final strides appeared to be spurred by a left-handed strike from jockey Luis Saez. The stewards looked into the incident with an inquiry, and Robby Albarado, the rider of Free Drop Billy, lodged an objection, but the result stood.

The winner, bred in Kentucky by Hunter Valley, is out of the grade 1-placed Candy Ride  mare Wynning Ride. He was a $575,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.

Givemeaminit finished a head back in third.

It was the third Hopeful win for Baker and Mack with colts trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. They won the 2009 running with Dublin  and the 2013 race with Strong Mandate  (also by Tiznow).

In all, Lukas has won eight runnings of the Hopeful. He won his first Hopeful in 1990 with Deposit Ticket, adding Salt Lake (1991), Hennessy (1995), High Yield (1999), and Yonaguska (in a dead-heat with City Zip in 2000).

"I don't think the other seven helped us today though," Lukas said. "I think those seven are on their own merit. Today, we had to do it with this one. I've done it for Mr. Baker and Mr. Mack. I think they've won the last three. Strong Mandate and Dublin — they're on a mini-roll themselves. They've been great. They've been loyal—been with us 27 years. They buy two horses a year and they let me pick them out and they've been great signing the ticket. We've been great buying two a year."

National Flag, who broke from post 5, went to the lead under Jose Ortiz. The son of Speightstown  sprinted through an opening quarter-mile in :22.50 while hounded by Sporting Chance. There was a gap to Firenze Fire and Psychoanalyze down the backstretch through a half-mile in :45.92. Favored Free Drop Billy came with his run on the turn, but was three wide coming around the bend.

Sporting Chance shook clear of National Flag at the head of the lane and opened up on the field, with Free Drop Billy pursuing on the outside through six furlongs in 1:10.30. As Sporting Chance bolted to his right, Albarado and Free Drop Billy had to move inside. Free Drop Billy was able to hold second by a head over Givmeaminit, who rallied up the rail under Joel Rosario.

"Well, this surprised me more than it did the horse," Lukas said of the final strides. "I thought he was comfortable in front and he was moving well. I think he was best in the last 50 yards where he accelerated — that's his style. Unfortunately, he saw something (at the finish), I guess Luis explained that he ducked from the whip; I'm not sure. I have a tendency to think it might have been something else.

"You never know," Lukas said. "These are 2-year-olds and he's just in his third race, so you can see things happen like that everyday in 2-year-old races."

Dale Romans, the trainer of the runner-up, was not amused.

"You can't tell (with) a 2-year-old who has run three times in his life and the horse bolts in front of him, how much it stops his momentum," he said. "If they all stayed straight, he may run right past him. You don't know what it does to a horse's mind. He got beat a (neck) by a horse who bolted in front of him. It's a ridiculous call."

Sporting Chance paid $13.40, $6.80, and $4.70. Free Drop Billy paid $4.20 and $3.10, while Givemeaminit returned $3.70. The $1 exacta (6-8) paid $28. Firenze Fire was fourth, followed by National Flag, Oskar Blues, Mojovation, and Psychoanalyze.

Sporting Chance finished second in his debut June 15 at Churchill Downs, where he finished 1 1/4 lengths behind Dak Attack. Dak Attack, by Ghostzapper , won the Aug. 20 Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes.

Sporting Chance broke his maiden July 22 at Saratoga by 2 1/4 lengths going 5 1/2 furlongs under Saez. Five works followed the maiden win, including a bullet :48 3/5 move over the Oklahoma training track Aug. 30.

The Hopeful winner was sold twice. Hunter Valley Farm sold Sporting Chance to Lapis Bloodstock for $275,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. Part of Peter O'Callaghan's Woods Edge Farm's consignment to the 2016 September sale, Mack and Baker signed the ticket for $575,000 during the sale's opening session.

Hunter Valley purchased Wynning Ride for $300,000 (while in foal to Tale of the Cat) at the 2013 Keeneland January sale. The mare was sold (in foal to Pioneerof the Nile ) at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale to Carrol Castille.

An Ontario-bred, Wynning Ride won the 2010 Iowa Distaff after placing in the 2008 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (G1) for Arnold Zetcher and trainer Bob Baffert. She went 3-4-1 in 13 starts and earned $345,108 while also running third in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) in 2009 and the grade 2 Milady Handicap in 2010.

Sporting Chance is her third foal. She has been bred to Tapizar  for 2018.