HOLLYWOOD PARK : Mandella Hopes for Final Proof in the Japan Cup

The morning after Richard Mandella broke the bank at Santa Anita, winning two Breeders’ Cup races and two other stakes, Fernando Toro, a retired jockey, was at the barn, waiting to congratulate the trainer who had turned 43 two days before.

In 1982, Toro had been aboard The Hague when the colt won a $400,000 division of the Hollywood Turf Cup for one of Mandella’s first major victories. They won some more races together in California, and in 1989 Toro rode Mandella’s Exclusive Partner to victory in the Elkhorn, a grass stake at Keeneland.

After the Elkhorn, someone asked Mandella about Toro’s reputation as a formidable grass rider.

“Calling him ‘Toro on the turf’ makes sense to me,” the trainer said. “After all, they named a lawn mower after him.”

On Nov. 7, the morning after Phone Chatter won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and Kotashaan won the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Herman Sarkowsky, the owner-breeder of Phone Chatter, had remarked that the difference between winning a Breeders’ Cup race and an NBA title, as he had done with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977, was that there were no contracts to renegotiate in racing.

“There will be more news to come about those contracts,” Mandella added.

Mandella, who had never won a million-dollar race until Phone Chatter’s victory, now is hoping to win the $3.6-million Japan Cup a week from Sunday. Mandella actually has more on the line than he did on Breeders’ Cup day: With a victory, Kotashaan could clinch horse-of-the-year honors in North America, and that might give Mandella an Eclipse Award as outstanding trainer.

But if Kotashaan doesn’t win in Tokyo, Eclipse voters might favor Lure, or Star Of Cozzene. Lure won the Breeders’ Cup Mile for the second consecutive year and Star Of Cozzene, who also is entered in the Japan Cup, beat Kotashaan twice at Santa Anita last winter before Mandella’s 5-year-old won six of his next seven starts.

Star Of Cozzene, unraced since Oct. 9 and kept out of the Breeders’ Cup by his new Japanese owners so that he would be rested for the mission in Tokyo, has a possible freshness edge over Kotashaan, who was all out to beat the stubborn Bien Bien by a half-length at Santa Anita. Kotashaan is now also Japanese-owned, a syndicate having made a deal with France’s Wertheimer brothers that was completed after the Breeders’ Cup.

“If Kotashaan wasn’t the kind of horse he is, we wouldn’t even be considering this race,” Mandella said. “It’s going to be a grueling undertaking, but I think he has the constitution to do it. This isn’t a ground-out horse by any means.”

Kotashaan won one race apiece at Santa Anita in February, March and April. Mandella gave him some time off in early summer, then brought him back for victories at Del Mar in September, Santa Anita in October and on Breeders’ Cup day this month. What happened to August? In the Del Mar Handicap, Kotashaan lost by a nose to Luazur, another American entry in the Japan Cup.

Lure also has six victories this year, the one in the Breeders’ Cup Mile coming by 2 1/2 lengths after he survived serious trouble on the first turn.

From late April until mid-June, Lure and Star Of Cozzene battled four times to a split decision, with Star Of Cozzene winning the last two. “I don’t want to take anything away from Lure,” Mandella said, “but my horse has been so consistent once he got good. Kotashaan has been good for a long time, not just the last two or three months. His victory on Breeders’ Cup day was not as awesome because our race was so competitive. My horse has won a lot of good races. I think he’s dominated the strongest group of horses this year. The middle-distance grass horses haven’t been as good as the distance horses this year.”

Going into October, Bobby Frankel seemed a cinch for trainer of the year. He was saddling winners everywhere, had a horse-of-the-year favorite in Bertrando and held a comfortable position atop the money list, which Wayne Lukas had dominated for a decade. But on a fall day at Belmont Park, Shug McGaughey won five major stakes, moving into second place in purses behind Frankel and becoming an Eclipse contender.

Then on Breeders’ Cup day, McGaughey won with Lure but failed with the rest of his horses. Bertrando was beaten and Frankel remained winless with 22 Breeders’ Cup starters. Frankel is still the money leader, with $8.4 million through last Sunday, and Mandella, with $5.8 million, has moved past McGaughey.

Horse Racing Notes

Luazur will continue to be trained by Bobby Frankel in the Japan Cup, but will be running for Mithab Abdullah of the royal family of Saudi Arabia. Edmund Gann of Rancho Santa Fe recently sold the 4-year-old colt. . . . Eddie Delahoussaye, weak because of flu, didn’t ride Friday but will be back today for his assignment on Fatherland in the Hollywood Derby. Fatherland was fifth in the Del Mar Derby, which was won by Guide, who also is entered in today’s field. Delahoussaye has won the Hollywood Derby five times, with Codex, Victory Zone, Political Ambition, Olympio and Eternity Star. The last two came in 1991, when the race was split. After today, Delahoussaye will take the next four days off to recuperate. He’s not expected to ride again until Thursday.

The Woodlands, the Kansas City, Kan., track that Hollywood Park is in the process of buying, completed a 63-day thoroughbred season on Nov. 1, with average daily attendance of 1,494, a decline of 47% from the previous year. The average handle of $109,716 was off 41%. Greyhound racing at an adjacent facility is Woodlands’ safety net, and casino gambling might be legalized by the end of next year.