Brickyard Ride seeks fifth consecutive win in Triple Bend

ARCADIA, Calif. - Brickyard Ride will have his second start of the year in a graded stakes next Sunday in the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes at Santa Anita in an attempt to extend a winning streak to five races.

Trainer Craig Lewis and owner and breeder Sonny Pais had four race options at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday, two of which are stakes for California-breds. Lewis said the $200,000 purse of the Triple Bend at seven furlongs was a deciding factor.

“It’s quite demanding to win five in a row,” Lewis said. “We’re hoping he’s up to that.”

Brickyard Ride, 5, has won 12 of 22 starts and earned $740,977. Earlier this year, Brickyard Ride won three stakes for statebreds – the California Cup Sprint at six furlongs in January, the Tiznow Stakes at a mile in February, and the Sensational Star Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in March.

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Brickyard Ride won the Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs as the 2-5 favorite on April 30, his second graded stakes win of his career.

The Triple Bend is the main race on next Sunday’s card. Other candidates include American Theorem, who finished ninth of 10 in the Kentucky Cup Classic at 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic track at Turfway Park on April 2; Exaulted, unraced since a third in the 2021 Triple Bend; and Shaaz, who will have his stakes debut.

Shaaz, trained by Michael Petersen and trained by Sean McCarthy, is unbeaten in three starts, including an allowance race at seven furlongs on Feb. 5 in which he finished second but was promoted to first after a rival caused interference.

Shaaz won an allowance race at a mile on April 2, leading throughout.

A $1.1 million purchase as a 2-year-old, Shaaz was previously trained by Bob Baffert, who is currently in the midst of a 90-day suspension for a medication violation found in a post-race test taken from Medina Spirit, after he finished first in the Kentucky Derby in 2021.