Denman’s Call runs down Masochistic in Triple Bend

Denman’s Call closed up the inside to nail 1-2 favorite Masochistic in deep stretch and edged away to a one-length decision in the $400,690 Triple Bend (G1) at Santa Anita. Overlooked at 16-1, the 4-year-old gelding notched his first win since capturing his career debut 14 months ago. Tyler Baze was up on the Doug O’Neill trainee.

Third in a pair of entry-level allowances this winter at Santa Anita, Denman’s Call nearly wasn’t entered in the Triple Bend.

“I was going to run in an allowance but it didn’t fill,” O’Neill said. “Such a wacky game. Thankfully, the allowance race didn’t go, and here we are. It’s incredible.”

Masochistic sped forward to show the way on a short lead, establishing fractions in :22.94 and :45.22 while being chased by Conquest Cobra. Denman’s Call stalked in third and launched his move up the rail entering the stretch. The son of Northern Afleet completed 7-furlongs in 1:20.94.

“It was a beautiful trip,” Baze said. “I talked to Doug before the race and we were saying that we hoped (Conquest Cobra) would go with Masochistic a little bit and give him just a little company the first part of the race. I really believe in this horse.”

“He was sitting on a good race, you just never know where the class is,” O’Neill said of Denman’s Call, who has now earned $338,640 from an 8-2-1-3 record. “I always think of the paddock like a pasture when you kick four or five new horses out there; within seconds you have a pecking order. If they lose in the paddock you usually know you’re in trouble. He handled himself like he was a leaser down there the whole time today. That definitely tipped me off that he was going to run the way he’s been training.

“We dreamt about this but none of us would have thought it was possible to do what he just did. That was pretty incredible.”

Masochistic wound up 4 ¼ lengths better than Conquest Cobra in third.

Bred in Kentucky, Denman’s Call is owned by Gilman Racing, Westside Rentals.com and W.C. Racing Inc.