Cistron Stays on Dirt for Triple Bend Stakes

After 13 consecutive starts on turf in which he picked up stakes placings but failed to earn a trip to the winner's circle, a move to dirt saw Hronis Racing's Cistron deliver the top effort of his career.

Hoping to build on the momentum of that effort—a frontrunning score in the Kona Gold Stakes (G2) in which the 5-year-old son of The Factor  drew off by 5 1/4 lengths in the stretch April 20 at Santa Anita Park—trainer John Sadler has entered Cistron in the $200,000 Triple Bend Stakes (G2) May 25 at Santa Anita.

The Kona Gold score marked the first graded stakes win of Cistron's career and ended a 17-race skid—not that all of those efforts were poor. Cistron entered the Kona Gold off a runner-up finish in the March 31 San Simeon Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita, and he earned five other stakes placings during that stretch.

Sadler said after the Kona Gold, where he was supplemented, that Cistron had been training well on dirt. As a 3-year-old, he won the Northern Spur Stakes on dirt at Oaklawn Park.

"I expected him to be in front," Sadler said after the race. "When we saw this race was coming up a little light and there wasn't that much speed, we decided to supplement."

Cistron isn't the only horse entered in the seven-furlong test off a graded stakes win. Dan Agnew, Gerry Schneider, and John Xitco's Law Abidin Citizen enters off a clear victory in the San Simeon—the 6 1/2-furlong hillside test where Cistron finished second. The 5-year-old son of Twirling Candy  is trained by Mark Glatt.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will send out a pair of runners in two-time grade 2 winner American Anthem, who prepped with a runner-up finish in a Kentucky Derby Day allowance race at Churchill Downs, and Nero, who enters off a clear victory in a March 30 optional-claiming allowance race at Santa Anita.

American Anthem's runner-up effort, where the son of Bodemeister  led into the stretch, marked the seasonal debut for the 5-year-old horse owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and Head of Plains Partners. American Anthem won the San Carlos Stakes (G2) last summer at seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

Michael Tabor, M.V. Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Stonestreet Stables' Nero, a 4-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile , has finished first or second in all of his starts except a seventh-place finish in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes (G1).

Also entered for the Triple Bend is the Kona Gold runner-up, Kaleem Shah's All Out Blitz, a stakes-winning 4-year-old Concord Point colt who has placed in three graded stakes.

Entries: Triple Bend S. (G2)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, May 25, 2019, Race 8

• Grade II
• 7f
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:33 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1American Anthem (KY)	Mike E. Smith	121	Bob Baffert	5/2
2	2Cistron (KY)	Victor Espinoza	123	John W. Sadler	7/2
3	3Law Abidin Citizen (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	123	Mark Glatt	8/1
4	4Majestic Eagle (KY)	Flavien Prat	121	Neil D. Drysdale	15/1
5	5Nero (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	121	Bob Baffert	5/1
6	6Air Strike (KY)	Norberto Arroyo, Jr.	121	Philip D'Amato	10/1
7	7The Hardest Way (KY)	Joseph Talamo	121	Ronald W. Ellis	3/1
8	8All Out Blitz (KY)	Martin Garcia	121	Simon Callaghan	8/1