Stakes Continue to Be a High for Mandella

They ran 127 races worth $1-million or more in North America before trainer Richard Mandella won one. Since winning his first $1-million race, Mandella has trained as though he doesn’t want anybody else to win one.

Mandella said he is overwhelmed by the enormity of his accomplishments. He won a pair of Breeders’ Cup races, with Phone Trick and Kotashaan, in 1993, and now he has won the last four $1-million races run in Southern California.

“I grew up dreaming about these races,� Mandella, 46, said Sunday. “I do have an ego, and this is very good for me and I’m very proud.�

Mandella has fine-tuned his stable so well for the richest races that few trainers run against him, and it’s folly when they do. Mandella finished 1-2-3 in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, something that was never done before, and Sunday, in a different order with the same horses, he salted away the first three places again as Gentlemen won the Hollywood Gold Cup with stablemates Siphon and Sandpit in his wake.

For Mandella, Gentlemen’s win Sunday was preceded by Siphon’s win in the 1996 Gold Cup; Dare And Go’s upset of Cigar in last year’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar; and Siphon’s win in this year’s Santa Anita Handicap.

Mandella keeps leaving himself with a tougher act to follow, and it’s likely that Gentlemen, Siphon and Sandpit, who race for different owners, will be back for more in the Pacific Classic on Aug. 9.

“It’s hard to believe that they were 1-2-3 again,� Mandella said. “I can’t believe it now, so it’s going to be hard for me to think about going to the next step.�

The deck for the 58th Gold Cup was stacked in Mandella’s favor, because he ran five of the six horses in the field. Still, he was concerned about the interloper, trainer Wayne Lukas’ Marlin, a grass standout who was trying to win for the second time on dirt. Marlin finished fourth, ahead of Mandella’s other horses, Region and Talloires.

Although Mandella’s horses came away with $960,000 of the Gold Cup purse, Siphon’s second-place finish knocked him out of a chance to win the $3-million MGM Grand Classic Crown bonus offered to any horse that sweeps the three Santa Anita, Hollywood and Del Mar races. There’s a secondary bonus of $500,000 that goes to the four horses with the best finishes in the series, and Siphon, with 17 points, is the leader in those standings, followed by Gentlemen with 15 and Sandpit with 12. The point leader gets $250,000.

Gentlemen finished third in the Santa Anita Handicap, three lengths behind Siphon. There was a seven-length turnaround Sunday, with Gentlemen winning by four under Gary Stevens. Siphon traveled more than 8,000 miles to run second in the Dubai World Cup on April 3, while Gentlemen stayed at home, and then on June 1 a body sore Siphon missed the Californian, which was to be his Gold Cup prep.

After Siphon set the pace Sunday while running moderate fractions, Gentlemen increased the steam on the turn for home and once past his rival at the top of the stretch the wire could have come at any time. It was another four lengths back to Sandpit, who was second in the Big ‘Cap.

Gentlemen, holder of the Hollywood Park record for 1 1/8 miles, ran 1 1/4 miles in 1:59 1/5, which was the fastest running of the Gold Cup since Greinton’s 1:58 2/5 in 1985. Quack’s stakes record of 1:58 1/5 came in 1972, and the next year trainer Charlie Whittingham gave Mandella and all trainers something to shoot for when he ran 1-2-3 with Kennedy Road, Quack and Cougar II.

Gentlemen, coupled in the betting with Talloires, went off the second choice, behind Siphon, and paid $5.20 to win. The Argentine-bred has won seven of nine starts under Mandella in the U.S., after winning four of six in South America. Sunday’s $600,000 purse boosted Gentlemen’s overall earnings to $1.8 million.

R.D. Hubbard, chairman of Hollywood Park, bought 40% of Gentlemen hours before his record-setting 1 1/8-mile run in the Native Diver Handicap in December. Hubbard races the 5-year-old with Giberto Montagna, Aldo Soprano and Juan Jose Varsi, Argentines who were part of the original ownership group.

Because he wasn’t nominated by his Argentine interests for the Breeders’ Cup, Gentlemen isn’t eligible for the $4-million Classic, to be run at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8. Hubbard repeated Sunday that he won’t be supplementing the horse into the race at a cost of $800,000.

Stevens has won five of the six races he has ridden Gentlemen, including a half-length win over Skip Away in the Pimlico Special on May 10.

When Gentlemen loomed on the outside at the top of the stretch Sunday, jockey David Flores knew he was on borrowed time with Siphon.

“My horse got tired at the end,� Flores said. “Gary was next to me and he had a lot of horse left.�