Mandella

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The last time Richard Mandella trained a horse for the Kentucky Derby, he joked about his dismal record in the country's glamour races. "At this point, I'm desperate," the California-based trainer said. "I've been begging people for Triple Crown lessons, but nobody will give them to me." The year was 1999. Mandella's horse was Desert Hero. He finished 13th. Although Mandella is one of Southern California's most respected trainers - sort of the West Coast Bill Mott - he has never won a Triple Crown race.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Richard Mandella won four Breeders' Cup races last fall at Santa Anita Park. He says he never had a group of horses whose training went so smoothly. Things haven't gone as well this year. The California-based Mandella will send out Action This Day and Minister Eric on Saturday in the Kentucky Derby. They finished 1-2 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. On Friday, he will saddle Halfbridled in the Kentucky Oaks. She won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Action This Day has lost three straight races since winning the Breeders' Cup and being selected champion 2-year-old.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Richard Mandella has done this before.In the Pacific Classic two years ago at Del Mar, he faced a horse with an extended win streak trained by Bill Mott. The horse was Cigar. Mandella saddled Dare And Go, and Cigar's 16-race win streak was history.Today, in the Arkansas Derby here at Oaklawn Park, Mandella again faces a horse with an extended win streak trained by Mott. The horse is Favorite Trick. Mandella saddles Quake, and Favorite Trick's nine-race win streak is at risk.

ARCADIA, Calif. - After a while, Kenny Rice decided just to keep Richard Mandella on the podium. Rice, the sports commentator, served as emcee yesterday of the traditional winners' breakfast the morning after the Breeders' Cup. Under a tent erected next to the paddock at Santa Anita Park, site of the 20th Breeders' Cup, reruns of the eight races were shown, and then Rice invited connections of the winning horses to the podium. Because Mandella's horses won half the races, Rice invited the trainer to stay put, front and center.

ARCADIA, Calif. - After a while, Kenny Rice decided just to keep Richard Mandella on the podium. Rice, the sports commentator, served as emcee yesterday of the traditional winners' breakfast the morning after the Breeders' Cup. Under a tent erected next to the paddock at Santa Anita Park, site of the 20th Breeders' Cup, reruns of the eight races were shown, and then Rice invited connections of the winning horses to the podium. Because Mandella's horses won half the races, Rice invited the trainer to stay put, front and center.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- A bit of the old American West visited Canada yesterday when trainers Bill Mott and Richard Mandella shared an interview table at Woodbine."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- A tendon injury discovered in the left front leg of Afternoon Deelites has put the colt's racing future in doubt, trainer Richard Mandella said.Unbeaten in his first five starts before being beaten a head by Larry The Legend in the Santa Anita Derby, Afternoon Deelites suffered the injury while finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby on May 6. He also came out of the race with a throat infection.Mandella informed owner Burt Bacharach, who is in Europe, of the problem via telephone yesterday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Likely favorite Soul of the Matter has a foot bruise and was declared out of Sunday's $1 million Hollywood Gold Cup.Trainer Richard Mandella said breeder-owner Burt Bacharach's $2 million earner appeared lame while walking before a scheduled workout yesterday morning at Hollywood Park. The shoe was removed from the 5-year-old horse's right forefoot, revealing "a bright red ring" signifying a bruise on the sole, Mandella said.Pub Date: 6/26/96

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Dick Mandella doesn't even want to think about the day when he will be inducted into thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame. But if the 45-year-old trainer keeps winning, he's odds-on to make it one of these days.Mandella added to his impressive resume at Santa Anita on New Year's Day when he became the first trainer in 49 runnings of the San Gabriel Handicap to win the Grade II turf race with the same horse. And he did it back-to-back.Romarin, a Brazilian-bred horse, led throughout the nine-furlong race on a firm course to win by a half-length over the fast-closing Virginia Carnival, who was saddled by Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- The Santa Anita Derby lost one starter, Wild Invader, yesterday and could lose another one, Maryland-sired Soul Of The Matter, today.Trainer Bobby Frankel officially scratched Wild Invader yesterday and said he is making shipping arrangements to run the son of Seattle Slew, owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, next Saturday in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.Dick Mandella, trainer of Soul Of The Matter, said it's 60-40 that his horse, owned by composer Burt Bacharach, will not start.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The sensational 2-year-old filly Halfbridled overcame her adverse post position to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies yesterday at Santa Anita Park. She carried Julie Krone to the first victory for a female jockey in the Breeders' Cup. The 2 1/2 -length victory capped a phenomenal inaugural season for the large, powerful daughter of Unbridled. Halfbridled won all four of her races with the ease of a potential superstar. Even the extremely disadvantageous 14 post in the Juvenile Fillies couldn't thwart her. "Her first leap out of the gate was so powerful that she put me two lengths in front of about six horses," Krone said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Richard Mandella soared upon the wings of four fleet horses into Breeders' Cup lore yesterday. The 53-year-old Californian trained four winners of the eight Breeders' Cup races at smoky, sweltering Santa Anita Park, including the unheralded Pleasantly Perfect in the marquee race, the Breeders' Cup Classic. No trainer had ever saddled as many Breeders' Cup winners on the same day. Ten years ago, when the Breeders' Cup was last held at Santa Anita in Southern California, Mandella won two Breeders' Cup races and two stakes on the undercard.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The last time Richard Mandella trained a horse for the Kentucky Derby, he joked about his dismal record in the country's glamour races. "At this point, I'm desperate," the California-based trainer said. "I've been begging people for Triple Crown lessons, but nobody will give them to me." The year was 1999. Mandella's horse was Desert Hero. He finished 13th. Although Mandella is one of Southern California's most respected trainers - sort of the West Coast Bill Mott - he has never won a Triple Crown race.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Richard Mandella has done this before.In the Pacific Classic two years ago at Del Mar, he faced a horse with an extended win streak trained by Bill Mott. The horse was Cigar. Mandella saddled Dare And Go, and Cigar's 16-race win streak was history.Today, in the Arkansas Derby here at Oaklawn Park, Mandella again faces a horse with an extended win streak trained by Mott. The horse is Favorite Trick. Mandella saddles Quake, and Favorite Trick's nine-race win streak is at risk.

Trainer Richard Mandella's Dare And Go beat the Maryland-bred Cigar in last year's Pacific Classic. Jockey Gary Stevens' Silver Charm conquered the Maryland-trained Captain Bodgit in last week's Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, Mandella and Stevens teamed with Gentlemen to knock off Skip Away, another horse with strong Maryland connections, in the $600,000 Pimlico Special at Pimlico Race Course.The Grade I race lived up to its name as Gentlemen, a resident of the rich Mandella barn in California, took the lead around the far turn and withstood by a half-length a gallant stretch drive by Skip Away.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- A bit of the old American West visited Canada yesterday when trainers Bill Mott and Richard Mandella shared an interview table at Woodbine."

LOUISVILLE -- Funny, how fate plays a fickle game at the racetrack. One day a horse is box-office in the Kentucky Derby lineup. Then he loses a race. Nobody thinks much more about him.Falling short by a head in the Santa Anita Derby to a colt who isn't even in the Kentucky Derby has put Afternoon Deelites in this curious position.A few months ago he was widely hailed as the next superstar of the game. His status this week at Churchill Downs is that of forgotten former favorite.He's so forgotten that he's nearly invisible.

Trainer Richard Mandella's Dare And Go beat the Maryland-bred Cigar in last year's Pacific Classic. Jockey Gary Stevens' Silver Charm conquered the Maryland-trained Captain Bodgit in last week's Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, Mandella and Stevens teamed with Gentlemen to knock off Skip Away, another horse with strong Maryland connections, in the $600,000 Pimlico Special at Pimlico Race Course.The Grade I race lived up to its name as Gentlemen, a resident of the rich Mandella barn in California, took the lead around the far turn and withstood by a half-length a gallant stretch drive by Skip Away.

DEL MAR, Calif. -- A lone figure in red, white and blue silks sat at the long table in the interview room. Jerry Bailey, jockey of Cigar, had come to face the music.Usually reserved for winners, the interview room at every racetrack is a place for smiles and congratulations. And here on the fourth floor at Del Mar, a lovely spot near San Diego, it even affords a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.But yesterday, Bailey stared ahead in silence. And then the questions, politely asked, sensitively phrased, began.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Likely favorite Soul of the Matter has a foot bruise and was declared out of Sunday's $1 million Hollywood Gold Cup.Trainer Richard Mandella said breeder-owner Burt Bacharach's $2 million earner appeared lame while walking before a scheduled workout yesterday morning at Hollywood Park. The shoe was removed from the 5-year-old horse's right forefoot, revealing "a bright red ring" signifying a bruise on the sole, Mandella said.Pub Date: 6/26/96