FAVORED CITY OF LIGHT DRAWS CLEAR TO WIN GRADE I, $400,000 TRIPLE BEND STAKES

By Mike Willman —-

CITY OF LIGHT
Benoit Photo

FAVORED CITY OF LIGHT DRAWS CLEAR TO WIN GRADE I, $400,000 TRIPLE BEND STAKES BY 1 ½ LENGTHS AS VAN DYKE REGISTERS 4TH CONSECUTIVE WIN; TRAINED BY MCCARTHY, QUALITY ROAD COLT GETS SEVEN FURLONGS IN 1:21.35

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 10, 2018)—Poised like a big cat stalking his prey around the far turn, heavily favored City of Light pounced on pacesetter Bobby Abu Dhabi approaching the quarter pole and edged clear late under confident handling to win by 1 ½ lengths under Drayden Van Dyke, providing him with his fourth consecutive win on the day. Trained by Michael McCarthy, the 4-year-old Quality Road colt got seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:21.35.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, longshot Bobby Abu Dhabi darted to the early lead and opened up on the winner by nearly three lengths approaching the far turn, but Van Dyke had plenty of horse and prevailed as expected.

An upset winner of the Grade I Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, City of Light was off as the even money favorite in a field of five older horses and paid $4.00, $2.80 and $2.10.

Owned by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren, Jr., City of Light picked up $240,000 for the win, nearly doubling his earnings to $490,600. With his second Grade I victory in the books, City of Light, a $710,000 Keeneland September yearling, is now 6-3-3-0 overall.

One of two Peter Miller entrants, Bobby Abu Dhabi proved game in defeat while finishing 4 ½ lengths in front of Edwards Going Late for the place. Off at 8-1, “Bobby” paid $5.60 and $2.80.

Unhurried early, California-bred Edwards Going Left kept to his task at the rail while well beaten and finished 5 ½ lengths in front of Miller’s Captain Scotty. Off at 5-2 with Tyler Baze up, Edwards Going Left paid $2.20 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.33, 44.55 and 1:08.53.

TRIPLE BEND STAKES QUOTES
GRADE I, $400,000

JOCKEY QUOTES

DRAYDEN VAN DYKE, WINNER, CITY OF LIGHT: “When you get on a roll like this, it gets your spirits up and it puts you in a good mood. I just want to keep it going.
“He grabbed me a little bit when he got the bit but then he relaxed again. He’s just a neat horse and he’s so kind. I’m very thankful to be on him.”

VICTOR ESPINOZA, BOBBY ABU DHABI, SECOND: “He ran really well. I was kind of surprised that everyone took back because there was so much speed in the race. When everybody took back it was good because we got in front. He was just waiting for a horse to see he kind of got lost in the front because he’s never really been in the front by himself; that was the first time. Nevertheless, he still ran a great race. Big performance for him today and I am just happy with the way he ran. Hopefully he’ll come back and win.”

TRAINER QUOTES

MICHAEL McCARTHY, CITY OF LIGHT, WINNER: “It’s not always easy keeping a horse at the top of his game for an extended period of time (after skipping his original plan of running in the Razorback at Oaklawn Feb. 19) and going to plan B, but the horse was good enough today to overcome that.

“I thought the race set up just like it would opening day in the Malibu. The horse outside of us showed plenty of pace and my horse was a bit keener the first three-sixteenths of a mile than I expected. Drayden dropped his hands coming to the half-mile pole, the horse seemed to settle for him and he picked him up coming to the lane. It was a hard-fought battle; we were glad to be on the right end of it.”

NOTES: The winning owners are Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren, Jr.

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Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.