Richard Mandella

GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio (Race Day) and GI Pegasus World Cup victor National Treasure (Quality Road) are scheduled to leave Santa Anita for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Tuesday in advance of their expected next starts in the Saudi Cup Feb. 24. Per Santa Anita Stable Superintendent Jeff Metz, Richard Mandella will send Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) and potentially Planetario (Brz) (Il Doge {Brz}) for starts on the Saudi Cup undercard. After spending nearly 12 hours in the holding barn at Santa Anita, the Saudi-bound contingent will leave for...

'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), the beaten favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, is not being pointed for the GI Kentucky Oaks, reports Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella. The beautifully bred daughter of Beholder (Henny Hughes) finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup and came out of the race with a crack in a splint bone. "She's out of training," Mandella said. "It was a small crack in the splint bone, but it needed time to heal up. She'll start training again in about a week, but...

Spendthrift stallion Omaha Beach got the first graded win of his nascent sire career with a blowout victory by Kopion (f, 3, Omaha Beach--Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop) in Santa Anita's GIII Santa Ynez S. Sunday. Three of the four fillies in the gate were by first-crop sires, but it was the least experienced of the newly minted sophomore fillies whom the public pegged at 1-5 and who put herself firmly in the early GI Kentucky Oaks conversation. The Santa Ynez was worth 10 points on the Oaks trail on...

When a horse has never been outside of the lead at first call in any of his 11 prior races, chances are good that he'll be a contender right from the jump. In this case, despite not having raced over the turf since contesting a five-furlong sprint as a juvenile in Oct. 2021, Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah) continued to put that trademark early speed to use and took the field coast-to-coast in the GII Joe Hernandez S. It's been a slow 2023 for the Richard Mandella trainee with only a...

Boxing Day is not a holiday observed on the American calendar--thanks, Revolutionary generation. However, the day after Christmas is circled in red by the horse racing cadre because it means one thing: Opening Day at Santa Anita Park. This Tuesday, an 11-race card kicks off at 2 p.m. ET under the picturesque San Gabriel mountains in Arcadia, California--six of which are graded stakes. To entice the horseplayer, the Classic Meet sports a $1 Pick Six, a 14 percent takeout on both the .50 Early and Late Pick 5, and we...

Nothing Like You (Malibu Moon) gave Hall of Famer Bob Baffert a seventh straight victory in the GII Starlet S. at Los Alamitos Saturday evening. Drawn on the rail in the field of six, the last-out Desi Arnaz S. winner was sent to the front by Juan Hernandez and was pressed through an opening quarter in :23.24. She gained some separation through a half mile in :47.40, let it out a notch on the far turn and ran up the score in the stretch to win by 5 1/4 lengths...

Over the same surface where her half-brother Corniche (Quality Road) earned GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile stardom en route to Champion 2-year-old colt honors, it was Llorona (Mendelssohn) who effortlessly broke her maiden in the Friday opener at Del Mar's seaside oval. For her handiwork, the dark bay filly became a newly-minted 'TDN Rising Star'. The Richard Mandella trainee at odds of 2-5 broke alertly and vied for the lead with two others up the backstretch. As the far turn arrived, Llorona clearly had more to give and at the quarter...

1st-DMR, $61K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6f, 3:30 p.m. ET. Bred by Bart Evans in partnership with Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch's Stonehaven Steadings, LLORONA (Mendelssohn) makes her first start for trainer Richard Mandella. The $750,000 KEESEP graduate is campaigned by Bart and Robert Evans. The MGSW & GISP Wasted Tears (Najran) is also responsible for champion 2-year-old colt Corniche (Quality Road). TJCIS PPS 5th-AQU, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 2:14 p.m. ET. Courtlandt Farms purchased Whocouldaskformo (Uncle Mo) for $450,000 at last year's Keeneland September Sale. She debuts for Shug McGaughey...

1st-Del Mar, $61,500, Msw, 11-26, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:16.13, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. KOPION (f, 2, Omaha Beach--Galloping Ami {Outstanding Broodmare-Can}, by Victory Gallop) did not disappoint her backers who made her the 1-5 favorite for this debut. The $270,000 Keeneland September buy trailed towards the rear of the field as a pair showed the way up the backstretch. Given her cue around the far turn, the Richard Mandella trainee ranged up and let the throttle out to graduate by 3 3/4 lengths over She's a Tempest (Connect). The...

Santa Anita concluded its 19-day Autumn Meet Sunday with Juan Hernandez on top of the jockey standings by both wins (24) and stakes victories (7). Trainer Mark Glatt edged out Phil D'Amato 12-11 to win his first Santa Anita training title, while Hall of Famer Richard Mandella led trainers by stakes wins with five. Leading owner went to Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable, who finished with four trips to the winner's circle. Known at The Great Race Place, Santa Anita hosted the Breeders' Cup Nov. 3-4. Racing...

Spendthrift Farm's homebred Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), a daughter of Hall of Famer Beholder (Henny Hughes), has been sidelined with a fractured splint bone in her left hind leg, the farm revealed in a Facebook post on Monday. The 2-year-old filly most recently finished seventh as the favorite in the GI NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday. "Richard Mandella has informed us that Tamara came out of the Breeders' Cup with a small fracture of the splint bone in her left hind leg that will not require surgery," the post...

ARCADIA, CA - The lightly raced Bass family homebred Seal Team (GB) (War Front) sliced his way through traffic at the top of the stretch and made his graded stakes debut a winning one in Saturday's GII Twilight Derby at Santa Anita. The 7-1 shot broke sharply and was a bit headstrong while racing in tight quarters heading into the clubhouse turn. He began to settle beneath Umberto Rispoli from there and raced on the inside in eighth through fractions of :23.56 and :47.18. Traveling well with a wall of...