By Brian DiDonato
Any one of the eight entrants for Santa Anita's Triple Bend S. could emerge with their first Grade I Saturday. Kobe's Back (Flatter), the 5-2 morning line pick, has come closest to that achievement, having finishing a neck second in last October's GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship. He could only rally to eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint on Halloween, but returned to California and his best form to kick off his 5-year-old campaign. The always slow-breaking, but fast-finishing grey annexed this venue's GII Palos Verdes S. over subsequent GI Carter H. scorer Salutos Amigos (Salute the Sarge) and re-opposing Cautious Giant (Giant's Causeway) Feb. 7. He defeated Coastline (Speightstown), Carter runner-up Calculator (In Summation) and Cautious Giant in the track-and-trip GII San Carlos S. Mar. 12, but settled for third–one spot behind Calculator–in the GII Churchill Downs S. May 7. “We just hope he breaks in the same area code [as the rest of the field],” offered Kobe's Back's Hall of Fame pilot Gary Stevens, back from a stint in Kentucky. “He always runs his race and he's been training great. His workouts leading up to this race have been good. Iggy [Puglisi] has been working him for me while I've been gone. The reports coming back to me have been great.”
The super speedy Subtle Indian (Indian Charlie) capped a four-race win streak in Oaklawn's GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. Apr. 10, and found only MGISW Wild Dude (Wildcat Heir) better after showing the way in the GII Kona Gold S. here May 21. Cautious Giant and Coastline were third and fourth, respectively.
Lord Nelson (Pulpit) could make some noise in the sprint division this year. Last term's GI San Vicente S. winner completed his sophomore season with a third-place run in the GI Malibu S. on the day after Christmas. He looked very good besting GSW and 'TDN Rising Star' Ocho Ocho Ocho (Street Sense) by 3 1/4 lengths in a June 3 optional claimer
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