Northview Stallion Station’s freshman sire Hoppertunity picked up his first win as a stallion on Monday, Aug. 22, when Game Seven broke his maiden on debut by five lengths.

A $130,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training sale in May, Game Seven had been working consistently at Saratoga during the summer. The bay Todd Pletcher trainee shipped to Parx for his first start, a five and a half-furlong maiden special weight against fellow Pennsylvania-breds, on the Pennsylvania Day at the Races card. He went off as the overwhelming 2-5 favorite in the nine-horse field.

Under Irad Ortiz Jr., Game Seven was hustled to the lead from the far outside post and found competition from the inside. He raced three-wide through an opening quarter in :22.62 while maintaining a slight lead. Cruising as they rounded the far turn, he opened up and began to draw away from the rest. All Eyes On You and Tiz Speedy made mild late rallies, but Game Seven kept them all at bay and crossed the wire in a final time of 1:06.07.

Game Seven is owned by Bregman Family Racing LLC, the nom de course of star Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, and Jackpot Farm. Bred by Best A Luck Farm LLC, he is the fourth winner from as many foals to race for Quality Silver (by Eurosilver), a half-sister to Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter Shamrock Rose, winner of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint-G1.

One of the best horses in training in the mid-2010s, Hoppertunity won nine times from 34 career starts and earned $4,712,625, making him the richest stallion to enter stud in the Mid-Atlantic region. He won at least one graded stakes race in each of the five seasons he raced, including the 2014 Clark Handicap-G1 as a 3-year-old, and the 2016 Jockey Club Gold Cup-G1, the latter getting a mile and a quarter in 2:00.68. He won or placed in 20 stakes, 19 graded, and was third or better in nine Grade 1s. In addition to his wins, he finished second in the Santa Anita Derby-G1 behind California Chrome, the Gold Cup at Santa Anita by a nose to Hard Aces, and the Clark Handicap and Awesome Again Stakes. Thirds came in the Dubai World Cup and Stephen Foster and Clark Handicaps.

A son of Grade 1 winner Any Given Saturday, Hoppertunity is out of graded stakes-placed Refugee (by Unaccounted For), also the dam of multiple Grade 1-winning juvenile filly Executiveprivilege and stakes winners Leader of Men and Cowboy’s Hero. His third dam is Hall of Famer Davona Dale.

Retired in the fall of 2018, Hoppertunity took up residence at Northview PA in Peach Bottom, Pa., where he covered 129 mares in 2019, the most of any Mid-Atlantic stallion that year. He has 73 named foals in his current crop of 2-year-olds.

When Northview Stallion consolidated its operations to Maryland in 2020, Hoppertunity moved to Chesapeake City for the 2021 season. He stood for a $5,000 stud fee in 2022.