Wet Weather and McAnally Foil Mandella

When entries were taken for the Monrovia Handicap on Thursday, the possibility existed that trainer Richard Mandella might duplicate his 1-2-3 finish in last year’s Santa Anita Handicap.

Mandella had three of the nine fillies and mares in the race, but all that changed before post time on Saturday afternoon.

To begin with, rain forced the $109,500 Monrovia, originally scheduled for about 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf, to the main track. That led to a pair of scratches, one of them the Mandella-trained Stop Traffic.

In the end, the best the trainer could manage was a third by Dixie Pearl as his Advancing Star, the 9-10 favorite, faded to fifth.

Madame Pandit, who had beaten Advancing Star twice in their previous six meetings, overcame a slow start to win by 3 1/2 lengths over Ski Dancer in 1:15 4/5 for the 6 1/2 furlongs.

Owned by Janis Whitham and trained by Ron McAnally, the 5-year-old Wild Again mare and 3-1 second choice won for the seventh time in 15 starts. The $65,700 payday increased her career earnings to $353,460.

“She ran well,” winning rider Eddie Delahoussaye said. “She broke a bit slow and [McAnally] said there might be some speed in the race. Last time I got her in back of horses, she started climbing.

“So, I figured I’d better get her in the race. So I did, and once I got her head up with the rest of them she relaxed pretty well. I just let her do her thing and she really kicked on at the end. She’s very consistent.

“They’ve done a great job with her. If she had broken better, she would have won easier than she did.”

McAnally, who won the Monrovia for the first time, said Madame Pandit will likely return in the Santa Monica Handicap, a Grade I race, on Jan. 24.

“The only time her mother [Tuesday Evening] won was here on a wet track by 10 lengths,” said McAnally, although the track was labeled fast for the Monrovia. “I wasn’t disappointed they took the race off the turf.”

Looking for her third consecutive win, Advancing Star was outrun for the lead and it appears she can’t handle a track if rain is even a possibility.

“I thought the track looked pretty good, but she looked like she just didn’t handle it at all,” Mandella said. “Every time I’ve run her here when it’s rained, or threatening rain, she hasn’t run well. I think she smells it.”

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Exotic Wood, who was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in her last start on Nov. 8, is the 5-2 morning-line choice in the $100,000 El Conejo Handicap today at Santa Anita.

With Chris McCarron serving a three-day suspension, Corey Nakatani will ride the 6-year-old Rahy mare for trainer Ron Ellis and owners Pam and Marty Wygod.

A winner of nine of 13 races, Exotic Wood will be looking for her fifth win in six tries at Santa Anita in the 5 1/2-furlong El Conejo. Her only defeat came in the 1996 Santa Monica when she was beaten by half a length by Serena’s Song.

She drew the outside post in the field, which was reduced to six with the scratch of Advancing Star.

Making his comeback after being away eight days short of a year, Paying Dues is the 3-1 second choice. The gelding, who was second to Lit De Justice as part of the field in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, has trained well for his return.

Owned by W.R. Welty and Lynn Ballantyne and trained by Cliff Sise, Paying Dues will be ridden by Delahoussaye. He has won three of eight on this track, but none of those was a stakes race. His last stake victory came in the 1996 Vernon O. Underwood at Hollywood Park.

The rest of the field includes Scurry Home, who has won his last two against easier for trainer Jay Robbins; The Exeter Man, who has three local wins, but who was pulled up in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in his last start on Nov. 29; Red, who captured the California Cup Sprint at 10-1 when last seen on Oct. 25, and Tower Full, the former $10,000 claimer who won the Underwood last month at Hollywood Park.

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Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., who is trying to pass Bill Shoemaker and become racing’s all-time winningest rider, has decided to stay in Southern California for at least the remainder of the Santa Anita meeting, which concludes April 20.

Pincay, 51, had talked several weeks ago about possibly relocating to the Northern California circuit because of limited opportunities to ride locally.

“I’m going to give this meeting a try and then take it from there,” said Pincay, who rode at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday. “Right now, things are about the same. I’m riding three or four a day. I just hope I can win some races and see what happens. I’ll evaluate where I am after this meeting and see how things are going.”

Through Saturday, Pincay has 8,573 career victories, 260 shy of Shoemaker’s 8,833.

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For the 14th time in the last 15 years, Wayne Lukas led the nation’s trainers in earnings in 1997, according to statistics compiled by the Daily Racing Form.

Lukas’ barn earned $10,355,154, which was about $722,000 more than Richard Mandella, who finished the year with $9,632,774.

Jerry Bailey led the jockeys for the third consecutive year. His total purses of $18,346,282 was nearly $3 million more than runner-up Gary Stevens.

The top owner in terms of purses was Allen Paulson, who finished 1997 with $5,269,107.

Horse Racing Notes

Nakatani was fined $300 by the stewards for a whip violation. He was cited for causing welts on Elite Feet, who won the fourth race on Friday. . . . Trainer Ted West was fined $300 for a medication violation on A Low Spruce, who finished second in the second race on Dec. 4 at Hollywood Park. . . . Kent Desormeaux won three times on Saturday and Delahoussaye had two victories.