When he raced during the 1990s, Del Mar Dennis proved he knew how to find the winner's circle. He won many a first place share of a race's purse, and was no stranger to stakes success in Southern California.

You'll find him as the winner of the 1994 Grade II Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park, and he also won a minor stakes race at Santa Anita in 1995. But one other graded event reserved a piece of history for this horse. During the middle part of the decade, he did what few horses could when it comes to winning at the sport's highest level.

Native Diver did it in the Hollywood Gold Cup and San Diego Handicap. John Henry did it in the Oak Tree Invitational. And Flawlessly did it in the Matriarch. And as for Del Mar Dennis, three consecutive wins came his way in the San Bernardino Handicap.

Long before it became known as the Tokyo City Cup at a mile and a half, horses that entered the race were asked to go a mile and one-eighth. With horses like Native Diver, Quack, Precisionist and Alysheba among its winners, the San Bernardino had experienced its share of equine greatness since becoming a Santa Anita winter/spring staple in the 1950s.

But being a two-time winner of the San Bernardino was quite rare. Terrang accomplished it with wins in 1958 and 1959, very early in the race's history. But a couple of decades would roll by until Ruhlmann equaled Terrang in 1989 and 1990.

A longer wait for a horse to join both of them would not take nearly as long. In 1994, fresh off an allowance win at Santa Anita, Del Mar Dennis was entered in the San Bernardino. Trained by J. Paco Gonzalez and ridden by Sal Gonzalez, Jr., Del Mar Dennis stayed off the pace as the fractions were decent. In contention late in the stretch, he found what he needed to get ahead and prevail by a close margin for his first graded stakes victory.

By the time Del Mar Dennis returned to defend his title in the San Bernardino, he had added more stakes wins to his record. After winning the San Pasqual in early 1995, Del Mar Dennis had finished fourth in both the San Antonio and Santa Anita Handicaps. But the San Bernardino ended up righting things for the Dixieland Band gelding.

With Chris Antley handling the reins, Del Mar Dennis did the exact opposite compared to the previous San Bernardino. Rather than come from off the pace, he dictated it. And he and Antley ended up having the winning strategy as Del Mar Dennis became just the third horse to win back-to-back San Bernardinos.

In what was a history-matching race, Del Mar Dennis had truly earned his place in the storied Santa Anita timeline. But that place would grow in due course.

From the 1995 to 1996 San Bernardino Handicaps, Del Mar Dennis only had one more win come his way, that being an allowance at Santa Anita during the month of February. But the San Bernardino just fit Del Mar Dennis like a glove, and it was on full display again in 1996. With Kent Desormeaux in the irons, Del Mar Dennis employed the same tactics from the prior year. The plan worked once again, and Del Mar Dennis met history at the wire as he turned into the only horse to win three San Bernardino Handicaps. No one ever equaled it during the years it retained that name, and no one has done it since it became the Tokyo City Handicap (now Tokyo City Cup) in 2005.

In the grand timeline of California racing, only a few can be called three-time winners of a certain race. It is a unique distinction, and that puts Del Mar Dennis in a very unique gathering.

He may never have won a divisional title. And he may not have won a lot of stakes like other horses have in Southern California throughout the years. But Del Mar Dennis did something few have ever could, and that is capture the same race three straight years. To do so is a tribute to a horse's class and durability, and Del Mar Dennis had those traits when fans watched him race out here.

He tried to add a fourth straight title in 1997, but the streak closed with an off the board finish. But that in no way diminishes the gelding's record in that particular race.

Del Mar Dennis is the most successful runner in the San Bernardino's history, and no one can take that away from him.

Source:

San Bernardino Handicap becomes Tokyo City Handicap: Santa Anita 2019 Spring Media Guide, p. 45