ThoroFan Blog

A MUSICAL TRIBUTE IN THE TRIBLE BEND

Nick Costa

Horse Racing Nation

The San Gabriel Mountains provide an alluring backdrop for Santa Anita Racetrack, aka, the ‘Great Race Place’, the venue for the Triple Bend Stakes, our ThoroFan race of the week.


The seven furlong affair, for horses four years old and up, carries a purse of $200,000, and offers extended sprint specialists a chance to shine.

After being a Grade 1 event since 2004, the race was demoted in status this season to Grade 2.

First run as the Lakes and Flowers Handicap at Hollywood Park in 1952, the

Triple Bend, named after the 1972 Santa Anita Handicap winner, will be contested for the 68th time on Saturday and be run for sixth consecutive

year at Santa Anita.

Last year’s Triple Bend Stakes winner, City of Light, followed up his one and a half-length victory here by taking the G1 BC Dirt Mile and G1 Pegasus World Cup, before being retired.

Trainer Bob Baffert, a five-time winner of this contest, the most by any trainer, will saddle two entrants.

A competitive and solid field of eight older sprinters will take to the track – Race 8 on the Saturday card. Post time is 7:30 Eastern/4:30 Pacific.

Here’s a glance at the combatants from the rail out.

PP – Horse – Jockey - Trainer

1 – American Anthem – Mike Smith – Bob Baffert – Two-time Grade 2 winner came off a nine-month layoff to narrowly miss in his return on the Derby Day undercard. That race was at one-mile. He now cuts back to his preferred distance, where he’s won 4 of 5.

2 – Cistron – Victor Espinoza – John Sadler – Returned to the dirt last start for the first time since the summer of 2017 and became a graded stakes winner with a wire-to-wire romp in the G2 Kona Gold Stakes. Front-runner is on the upswing and will try to extend his speed another half-furlong here.

3- Law Abidin Citizen – Tiago Pereira – Mark Glatt – Exits a turf win last time out in the G3 Sam Simeon, notching his initial stakes score. He has limited dirt experience in his career, with only a pair of starts over the surface, but has placed both times. Has been absent for nearly two months, but his morning works have been regular.

4 – Majestic Eagle – Flavien Prat – Neil Drysdale – Another runner with a multitude of grass races. This son of Medaglia D’Oro is still struggling to get out of NW2x allowance conditions. This is the wrong surface and too short a distance for this colt.

5 – Nero - Drayden Van Dyke – Bob Baffert –The talent is certainly there with three wins and the same number of second place finishes from seven starts on his resume. Has recorded three consecutive bullet works since his last start in March. He’s been a bit quirky at times in his races, losing focus, but if his mind is on running, he’ll be tough to deny. Distance suits nicely.

6 – Air Strike – Norberto Arroyo – Philip D’Amato – Hasn’t won past entry level allowance conditions, but has kept good enough company when pitted against some tougher foes. Trainer D’Amato excels with horses making their third start off a layoff and also with those cutting back in distance, both categories this colt falls into.

7 – The Hardest Way – Joe Talamo – Ron Ellis – Returned to action after nearly 13-months away, and annexed an optional-claiming/allowance by a substantial margin, earning his biggest Bris speed figure to date. He’s won consecutive races, and has a flair for winning large too, with sizable tallies in his three lifetime wins. He takes a big jump up in class here and also tackles this tricky distance for the first time.

8 – All Out Blitz - Martin Garcia – Simon Callaghan – Colt was second throughout in the G2 Kona Gold Stakes last month. He’s won two of his four starts this year, most recently a half-length win in an ungraded stakes in March at Sunland Park. He’s compiled an overall record of 15-4-3-2 and has won going shorter and longer. He rates a good chance as he seeks his first graded win.

ANALYSIS: In seven furlong races, I tend to favor horses that have shown an affinity for the distance and American Anthem is such a runner. The five-year old has won four races going seven panels, two over this very oval. He had a nice tightener last time out at a distance beyond his best range, and is eligible for further improvement in his second start of the campaign. Gets reunited with jockey Mike Smith who has been aboard for three wins at the distance.

Nero is a lightly raced colt who displayed talent from the outset and was an early 2018 Derby contender. However, following a runner-up finish in the San Vicente, he was given time off until the fall of the year. That layoff was the second lengthy interruption of his young career, the first came after his winning maiden debut as a juvenile. There is early speed with this one and that should help him get good position as he prefers to have a target to run at. If he keeps interested throughout, he could prove best of all.

All Out Blitz is sent out by trainer Simon Callaghan, who is winning races at nearly a 30% clip. The colt is reunited with jockey Martin Garcia, who’s been riding hot the last week.



WAGER: With $100 mythical Thorofan dollars, I will bet $40 dollars to win on American Anthem and play a $20 exacta box with him and Nero. I will play both horses over All Out Blitz in straight $10 exactas.

Good luck, and as always, enjoy the race.