Triple Bend
Encyclopedia
Triple Bend was an American
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who set a world record time of 119.80 for seven furlongs on dirt in winning the 1972 Los Angeles Handicap
. http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/speed_in_the_thoroughbred.htm
Bred by Leslie Combs II, Triple Bend was sold at the 1969 Keeneland summer yearling sales
for $100,000 to Vancouver
industrialist Frank McMahon
, the owner of Majestic Prince
who won that year's Kentucky Derby
and Preakness Stakes
. Unfortunately, soon after McMahon purchased Triple Bend, while on a farm he became caught in a fence and his struggles left him partially paralyzed and his euthanasia
became a possibility. Nursed back to health, Triple Bend raced once as a juvenile in 1970.
Under trainer Vance Longden
, in 1971 his best results races was a win in the Contra Costa Stakes plus four second-place finishes in other stakes races. A rapidly improving horse at age four, in 1972 Triple Bend ran second to Unconscious in the Strub Stakes
then beat him in winning California's richest and most prestigious race, the Santa Anita Handicap
. Triple Bend dead heated
with Autobiography for first in the San Fernando Stakes and in winning the Los Angeles Handicap
at Hollywood Park Racetrack, set a world record time of 119.80 for seven furlongs. In the late fall, Triple Bend won the Vosburgh Stakes
at Aqueduct Race Track in the New York City borough
of Queens
.
Retired to stud
duty, Triple Bend's progeny met with only modest racing success. He died on January 31, 1995 at the age of twenty-seven.
In 1979, Hollywood Park Racetrack renamed the Lakes And Flowers Handicap in honor of Triple Bend. Since 2004, the Triple Bend Handicap has been a Grade 1
event.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
who set a world record time of 119.80 for seven furlongs on dirt in winning the 1972 Los Angeles Handicap
Los Angeles Handicap
The Los Angeles Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in May at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. A Grade III sprint race run on dirt over a distance of six furlongs, it is open to horses aged three and older.The 1968 race was run in two...
. http://www.chef-de-race.com/articles/speed_in_the_thoroughbred.htm
Bred by Leslie Combs II, Triple Bend was sold at the 1969 Keeneland summer yearling sales
Keeneland Sales
The Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene...
for $100,000 to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
industrialist Frank McMahon
Frank M. McMahon
Frank Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder and first chairman of Westcoast Transmission Co. Ltd...
, the owner of Majestic Prince
Majestic Prince
Majestic Prince was a Thoroughbred racehorse purchased by Calgary, Alberta oilman Frank McMahon at the Keeneland yearling sale in September 1967 for a then record price of $250,000...
who won that year's Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
and Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
. Unfortunately, soon after McMahon purchased Triple Bend, while on a farm he became caught in a fence and his struggles left him partially paralyzed and his euthanasia
Animal euthanasia
Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...
became a possibility. Nursed back to health, Triple Bend raced once as a juvenile in 1970.
Under trainer Vance Longden
Vance Longden
Vance Longden was an American Thoroughbred horse trainer based in California.Vance Longden was the son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden and his first wife, Helen. He was raised around horses and apprenticed with trainer William Molter...
, in 1971 his best results races was a win in the Contra Costa Stakes plus four second-place finishes in other stakes races. A rapidly improving horse at age four, in 1972 Triple Bend ran second to Unconscious in the Strub Stakes
Strub Stakes
The Strub Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California each year.Currently a Grade II stakes race with a purse of $300,000, it is open to horses, age four, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the synthetic surface of Santa Anita and offers...
then beat him in winning California's richest and most prestigious race, the Santa Anita Handicap
Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...
. Triple Bend dead heated
Tie (draw)
To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results. The word "tie" is usually used in North America for sports such as American football. "Draw" is usually used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations and it is usually used for sports such as...
with Autobiography for first in the San Fernando Stakes and in winning the Los Angeles Handicap
Los Angeles Handicap
The Los Angeles Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in May at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. A Grade III sprint race run on dirt over a distance of six furlongs, it is open to horses aged three and older.The 1968 race was run in two...
at Hollywood Park Racetrack, set a world record time of 119.80 for seven furlongs. In the late fall, Triple Bend won the Vosburgh Stakes
Vosburgh Stakes
The Vosburgh Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Run at the end of September/early October, it is open to horses three-years-old and up of either gender...
at Aqueduct Race Track in the New York City borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
.
Retired to stud
Stud (animal)
A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...
duty, Triple Bend's progeny met with only modest racing success. He died on January 31, 1995 at the age of twenty-seven.
In 1979, Hollywood Park Racetrack renamed the Lakes And Flowers Handicap in honor of Triple Bend. Since 2004, the Triple Bend Handicap has been a Grade 1
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
event.