THOROUGHBRED RACING : Mandella Hopes Dare And Go Will Win Him Second Turf Cup

The other day, in the context that Best Pal will be a 7-year-old in 1995, trainer Richard Mandella reflected on the success he has had with older horses.

“I can’t say anything bad about 7-year-olds,” Mandella said. “We just retired Memo at seven. Leger Cat made more than $300,000 for us when he was 7. Exclusive Partner was winning stakes at 7. And remember Paisano Pete? He won seven out of 10 starts for me when he was a 7-year-old.”

Second to Bobby Frankel in last year’s national purse standings and sixth on the trainers’ list this year, however, Mandella does not live by 7-year-olds alone.

His Phone Chatter was the champion 2-year-old filly last year, his Kotashaan, a mere 5, was horse of the year, and on Sunday, Mandella will try to win the Hollywood Turf Cup for the second time with a 3-year-old when Dare And Go races 10 rivals in the $500,000 stake.

Dare And Go will not sneak up on the Turf Cup the way The Hague, Mandella’s first winner of the race, did in 1982. The Hague won a division of the Turf Cup at 23-1, his only stakes victory in a 29-race career.

Dare And Go, who runs in the colors of Frenchmen Jacques and Gerard Wertheimer, the brothers who raced Kotashaan, was 5-1 in the Hollywood Derby three weeks ago, and ran a strong second to River Flyer, even though Mandella’s colt broke late and was unable to get position in a roughly run race.

“It was like a demolition derby,” said Gary Stevens, who will be aboard Dare And Go again Sunday. “He got pinched back, and his running style had to change and he adapted to it pretty well. I was hopelessly beaten by the winner at the five-sixteenths pole. It was a hell of a run (considering) the circumstance.”

River Flyer, who beat Dare And Go by 1 3/4 lengths for his first stakes win, is also running in the Turf Cup, but won’t be able to control the pace as he and Chris Antley did in the Hollywood Derby. There’s also the question of River Flyer being able to stay the 1 1/2 miles, a distance he has never run.

Jackdidi, a French-raced horse who left a 48-hour quarantine Friday after arriving in California in mid-week, drew the rail and will be ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye. The rest of the lineup, in order: Southern Wish, with Alex Solis aboard; Square Cut, Pat Valenzuela; Truly A Dream, David Flores; Dare And Go, Stevens; Savinio, Chris McCarron; Regency, Kent Desormeaux; Frenchpark, Corey Black; Lindon Lime, Shane Sellers; River Flyer, Antley; and Mashaallah, Laffit Pincay.

All of the horses will carry 126 pounds except Dare And Go and River Flyer, who will run with 122, and Truly A Dream, who will carry 119 as she tries to become the second filly to win the race.

The same day River Flyer won the Hollywood Derby, Southern Wish continued his startling rise from the claiming ranks with a three-length victory at 1 1/4 miles in the Citation Handicap. Under Sunday’s weight-for-age conditions, Southern Wish gains 11 pounds off that win and will be ridden by a different jockey, with Solis taking over for Corey Nakatani, who is busy in Hong Kong this weekend.

McCarron, who rode Savinio to his first stakes win, in the Burke Handicap at Santa Anita on Nov. 7, is always the jockey to watch in the Turf Cup. He has won the race six times in 12 tries and has been aboard the winners--Miss Alleged, Bien Bien and Fraise--the last three years.

No other jockey has won the stake more than once, and the race has been a bugaboo for some of the best. Pincay and Stevens, for example, are a combined 0 for 19, never having finished better than third.

Horse Racing Notes

Itsallgreektome, who won both races in 1990, is the only horse to have swept the Hollywood Derby and the Turf Cup. He was trained by Wally Dollase, who is the conditioner for Southern Wish. . . . After Sunday, Richard Mandella is expected to try Dare And Go on dirt. The colt is a son of Alydar and a grandson of Secretariat.

Square Cut, a 5-year-old gelding with early speed, has been second to Savinio and Southern Wish in his last two starts. . . . Bobby Frankel, who trains Regency and Mashaallah, is winless with 13 Turf Cup starters.

Megan’s Interco, who will be ridden by Corey Nakatani, is 12-1 in a 14-horse field in the $800,000 Hong Kong International Bowl. There will be betting at Hollywood Park on that race and seven others from Hong Kong, starting at 9 p.m.