LOS ALAMITOS : Mitchell Wins First Stake as a Trainer

Former jockey Danny Mitchell scored his first stakes victory as a trainer Friday at Los Alamitos with The Money Crunch in the $22,200 Miss Princess Handicap.

The stakes victory was also a first for The Money Crunch, a 4-year-old mare bred and owned by Margaret Leard.

“She worked good,” Mitchell said of The Money Crunch’s workouts in the weeks preceding the race. “Usually she doesn’t work that much, but she worked 18.7 (seconds) and that’s pretty good for her. I knew if she broke good she’d be hard to outrun.”

Mitchell was right. The Money Crunch and jockey Joe Badilla, Jr. broke on the lead, running away to a 1 1/4-length victory in an impressive 17.55 seconds.

Mitchell, of Garden Grove, got his start as a jockey at 16. One of the top jockeys at Los Alamitos in the 1980s, Mitchell is still ranked 19th on the list of all-time leading riders at the track with 586 victories.

Some of the most memorable were in stakes races, including the 1981 Kindergarten Futurity with Dash Again, the 1985 Kindergarten Futurity and 1986 Golden State Derby with Solvency and the 1986 Governor’s Cup Derby with I Owe You Me, dam of last year’s World Champion Down With Debt.

Mitchell, 43, retired from riding in 1987, and worked for one year as trainer H.L. Hooper’s assistant before moving to the barn of father-in-law Blane Schvaneveldt. In 1992, Mitchell decided to go out on his own.

The Money Crunch and Dicey Secret were part of Mitchell’s barn last year, each finishing second in stakes races.

“I had to wait awhile to get my first stakes, but this is very exciting,” Mitchell said. “Winning one stakes race feels a lot better than finishing second in four stakes races.”

His slight frame suggests that he could still make a jockey’s weight, and he gallops many of his horses in morning workouts. But he doesn’t regret the transition to trainer.

“I get a lot more out of (training)),” he said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot more as a trainer. Riding is very important, but when you train them, you live with them. You get more satisfaction, at least I do, out of winning as a trainer, especially a bigger one like that.”

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Arabians will take the spotlight this weekend as six Arabian stakes races are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, including the $40,000 Sierra Knights Handicap and the $35,000 Markel Classic.

The Arabian Racing Assn. of California will announce its 1994 champions Friday night, while the Darley Awards will be announced Saturday.