HOW’S that saying go? “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me…” Well, Bob Baffert was not going to be fooled again by California Chrome.

After chasing the champ three times this year, Baffert opted to send Hoppertunity across the country for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park last Saturday.

Hoppertunity did the rest, running down Effinex to take the $1 million Grade 1 by a half-length. Baffert engaged John Velazquez for the job and, like always, Velazquez did his homework.

“They told me he can be a little lazy the first part of the race so I sent him out of there and made sure he was somewhere in the mix, not too far back. He was in the bridle, so he was very good and just cruising along at a good pace. I was just kind of reminding him to stay where I needed him to be and he did everything I wanted him to,” Velazquez said.

“I knew that he’s always going around other horses and I wanted him to be inside, save all the ground I could and it worked out that way.”

It helps when you don’t have to try to go around California Chrome.