Handicapper's Corner: 2024 Triple Bend Stakes (G2)

 Short competitive field in Triple Bend

By: Rowan Ward, Blinkers-Off

Santa Anita’s Grade 2 feature on Saturday may be called the Triple Bend, but don’t be fooled: there’s just one turn in this race, and it’s a fast seven furlongs on the southern California dirt.

Originating in 1952 as the Lakes and Flowers Handicap, the race was renamed in 1979 to honor Triple Bend. He was one of the best sprinters of 1972 when he was four: he won the seven-furlong Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park in a then-world-record 1:19.8 and also won the Vosburgh at Aqueduct. However, the son of Never Bend was no one-trick pony: he also beat Cougar II in the 1 1/4-mile Santa Anita Handicap in racehorse time, two minutes flat.

Its best winners in recent history include McKinzie (2020) and City of Light (2018), both of whom were able to win major races going short or long, just like Triple Bend himself. McKinzie shined, going short in the 2018 Malibu (G1) but also won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G1), 2018 Pennsylvania Derby (G1), and 2019 Whitney (G1), going long.  City of Light parlayed his Triple Bend win into a Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) victory the same year, and also won the Pegasus World Cup (G1) the following year.

The Triple Bend is featured as race 6 of 9 with a 3:30 PT post time. Let’s review the field.

The Triple Bend drew a short field, with just four runners. That’s a bit perplexing, as such a short field usually happens when some divisional leader turns up in a race, but the sprint division has been wide open since the retirement of Elite Power. Even the established West Coast sprint leader, The Chosen Vron, was never turning up in the Triple Bend since he just dispatched a short field of California-breds in the Thor’s Echo on May 25.

Especially in a short field, the first fundamental question is: where’s the speed? In this case, it is Big City Lights who shapes as the speed of the speed, though the lightly raced Dr. Venkman may also be fast enough to be close up. Between the two, Big City Lights is drawn better: he got the clean outside draw in the short field, while Dr. Venkman is mired on the fence. Tahoe Sunrise has more miler speed than one-turn speed, while Happy Jack doesn’t have to sit too far back if his Kona Gold is any indication but does his best work running at a target.

Not only does he have the pace advantage, but Big City Lights comes into the race in sharp form. Granted, he has never shown anything but good form, as he has never been worse than second in nine outings. But those last two starts have come against open company and have been wins – an excellent step forward from a string of seconds against California-breds in 2022 and 2023. He is four-for-five at Santa Anita. And even though he is only one-for-three at seven furlongs, all of his starts at the distance have been competitive and he has yet to try this distance at his favorite track. Big City Lights is a strong single in this race.

Finish out exactas with Dr. Venkman. There’s a bit of a worry about him being a lightly raced horse breaking from the fence. But he has run well in all three of his starts to date, he is fast enough to be competitive, and trainer Mark Glatt is good at having horses ready off the bench. Though Big City Lights has a strong chance of outsprinting him to the lead, Dr. Venkman has run well from just off the pace as well and he has shown he can stay seven furlongs.

 

Selections

#4 Big City Lights (8-5)

#1 Dr. Venkman (9-5)