Mandella Holding the Aces

There is more to trainer Richard Mandella’s handicap division than Siphon, Sandpit and Gentlemen.

As if the first three finishers in last month’s Santa Anita Handicap aren’t enough, Mandella also has Atticus, who padded his resume with an impressive three-length victory in the $750,000 Oaklawn Handicap on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

With Skip Away winless in 1997, Mandella just might have the top four handicap horses in the country. Even if that assessment is overblown, the quartet is a group any trainer would love to have.

Some scoffed at Atticus’ world-record-setting mile victory on grass in the Arcadia Handicap on March 1 as merely a product of Santa Anita’s then lightning-fast turf course. But he came back over a different surface a little over a month later and won again.

Atticus ran away from Isitingood, a multiple-stakes winner who had set the world record for a mile on the Santa Anita grass a few weeks earlier, and Tejano Run, the darling of handicappers who rely on speed figures based on his victory in the Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park on March 22.

Owned by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer’s La Presle Farm, Atticus’ versatility gives Mandella a lot of options, meaning he will be pointed for either the $400,000 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile on dirt at Belmont Park on May 26 or the Shoemaker Handicap at a mile on turf three weeks later at Hollywood Park.

“He likes a hard, fast track,” Mandella said. “[The track at Oaklawn Park] came up a good, tight track. It didn’t surprise me. We wouldn’t have sent him there if we didn’t think he would run well, but I think he’s better than he was before.”

Hampered by a slow start, Siphon had to settle for second in the $4-million Dubai World Cup, losing by 1 1/4 lengths to Singspiel. Sandpit was third, meaning Mandella has two seconds and a third in the first two runnings of the World Cup. Soul Of The Matter was the runner-up to Cigar last year after a memorable stretch duel.

“Aside from the unfortunate situation of the rain [which caused the race to be postponed for five days], it was a good experience,” Mandella said. “They take good care of you and the horses did well.

“The [starting] gate was too small for my two horses. [Siphon] was cramped up in there and I think he was afraid to leave. He didn’t get away that clean this time and usually he gets a good jump out of there.

“But I’m not going to say he should have won. He was beaten by a very good horse.”

Defending his title in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 29 is the major target for Siphon, who, along with Sandpit, was due to arrive back in California from Dubai this morning. How Siphon returns from his long trip will dictate whether he runs before the Gold Cup or not.

Gentlemen, whose five-race winning streak ended in the Big ‘Cap, could surface in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap on May 3 at Hollywood Park or the $250,000 Massachusetts Handicap four weeks later at Suffolk Downs.

Horse Racing Notes

A hearing will be scheduled shortly on an incident before the fourth race last Sunday at Santa Anita. Hypnotize The Moon, a 3-year-old maiden filly making her first start since last Aug. 18 at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., flipped over backward before being loaded into the starting gate. She got back on her feet and quickly was loaded into the gate without her rider, Danny Sorenson. Sorenson got back on, but most people who wanted to change or cancel their bets on the filly had no time to do so. Hypnotize The Moon, who was 7-1, finished last, beaten by more than 32 lengths. “She should not have been allowed to run,” trainer Mike Puhich told the Daily Racing Form. “She banged her head and pelvis, and there’s no way you can expect a horse to perform under those circumstances.”

Funeral services for Roy Nakatani, the father of jockey Corey Nakatani, will be held at 1 p.m. today at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. The senior Nakatani died Saturday of a heart attack. After the funeral, Corey Nakatani is scheduled to fly to Hot Springs, Ark., where he will ride Jewel Princess in the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap Friday and Deputy Commander in the $500,000 Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. . . . Skip Away will probably race next in the Texas Mile at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, on April 20. If he runs, the purse will be increased from $100,000 to $250,000. The Texas Mile would serve as a prep for next month’s Pimlico Special.