Win Would Be Seventh Heaven

The day the post positions were drawn for the 1996 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, trainer Richard Mandella made a comment that came out like an aside.

Recalling the moment last week, Mandella said, “What I said was that Siphon would run fast for a while, but he didn’t have a chance at the distance [1 1/4 miles]. Then I said that we’d take Dare And Go back, and see what he could do.”

What Dare And Go and jockey Alex Solis did, after Siphon ran Cigar into the ground with a blistering opening mile, was win the Classic, ending Cigar’s 16-race winning streak.

Having won the Hollywood Gold Cup six weeks before--with Siphon, while Dare And Go ran fifth--Mandella had successive $1-million wins.

The streak is six now, six consecutive victories in the only $1-million races California regularly runs: the Santa Anita Handicap, the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic.

“I’m not surprised he’s done that,” said Sonny Hine, who as a teenager saddled his first winner in 1948, two years before Mandella was born. “I’ve been around him a little bit and can see that he’s a guy who pays a lot of attention to the details. He uses good judgment in where he runs his horses. He’s the kind of a guy that if you give him the tools [the horses], he’s going to get the job done.”

If Mandella’s streak is to become seven today, he’ll have to beat another giant, Hine’s Skip Away, in the 59th Hollywood Gold Cup.

Skip Away was one of only three horses to beat Cigar in the years he won horse-of-the-year titles in 1995-96, and he also heads into the Gold Cup with a six-race winning streak. And he’ll be running over the same track that provided his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November.

“No question [the end of Mandella’s streak] will happen some day,” he said. “And I’ll be disappointed when it does. Even after each of the last three, I’ve said to myself: ‘Am I really supposed to win all these?’ ”

As is his custom in these $1-million California races, Mandella will take more than one shot. His hopes today are the Argentine-bred Gentlemen, who won the Gold Cup last year, and Puerto Madero, a Chilean colt who has run only twice in the U.S.

Hine fears both: Gentlemen beat Skip Away last year and Puerto Madero, though no match for Skip Away, finished second to Hine’s horse last month in the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs.

Gentlemen and Puerto Madero, who are coupled in the betting, will go off the second choice today. That is when Mandella has been most dangerous in these $1-million races. Five of his six winners weren’t favored. Here’s a look at how he cobbled out the streak:

1996 GOLD CUP: THE SETUP

Under David Flores, Siphon was allowed to gallop along on an easy lead, then had enough left to hold off Geri and Jerry Bailey at the wire. Not only did Mandella’s horse win that race, but the trap was also set for the next one.

1996 PACIFIC CLASSIC: SEASIDE SHOCKER

Bill Mott, who trained Geri and Cigar, and Bailey, who rode both horses, were determined to avoid a front-end rerun by Siphon in the Pacific Classic. Cigar pressured Siphon and Dare And Go won the race.

“In all honesty, I thought we might get second and third,” Mandella said. He was talking about Dare And Go and Siphon running against Cigar, who was a 1-10 choice as he tried to break Citation’s record of 16 wins in a row. Mandella got first and third--$720,000 of the pot--before a crowd of 44,181, a record Del Mar attendance by almost 10,000.

“That Mandella’s a smart guy,” said Cigar’s owner, Allen Paulson. “He knew what he was doing and he got us.”

1997 BIG ‘CAP: THE OLD 1-2-3

It was a Mandella parade, as Siphon, Sandpit and Gentlemen took the first three places, leaving only $80,000 of the purse for two other horses. “Siphon was a tough horse who could do anything,” Mandella said. “He could run short or long. For a while, after we got him [from South America], we didn’t think he’d stretch out, but he did.”

The last time Skip Away wasn’t favored was when he beat Siphon, who was 9-10, in the 1997 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. Siphon injured an ankle and was retired. He won nine stakes and earned $3.1 million.

1997 GOLD CUP: 1-2-3 AGAIN

Only trainer Wayne Lukas ran a horse against a Mandella quintet, but nothing was a given. “That’s the most pressure I’ve ever had going into a race,” Mandella said. “Here I was running my five, and there was [Lukas’] Marlin. Going in, I thought about how embarrassing it would have been if Marlin won and I ran second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. That would have been embarrassment.” Gentlemen and Talloires ran as an entry, and Siphon was favored. He went into the race with his Big ‘Cap win and a second to Singspiel in the Dubai World Cup. Gentlemen, back from beating Skip Away at Pimlico, clobbered them all. His 1:59 1/5 for 1 1/4 miles was the fastest Gold Cup in 13 years. Marlin ran fourth and Mandella’s horses earned all but $60,000 of the $1 million.

1997 PACIFIC CLASSIC: FORM HOLDS

Six Pacific Classics had been run without a favorite winning. There was no Del Mar hocus-pocus this time. Gentlemen, paying $3, wasn’t at his best, jockey Gary Stevens said, but he was still a convincing winner. “I didn’t tell Gary anything,” Mandella said. Siphon, ahead for the opening mile, finished second in a five-horse field and the Mandella duo earned $800,000 of the purse.

1998 BIG ‘CAP: CHILEAN CHILLER

Was the glass half-empty or half-full? Mandella wasn’t sure after Gentlemen, at 1-20 in a four-horse field, finished last while his stablemate from Chile, Malek, held off Bagshot at the wire. Gentlemen had some excuses: a skin rash a couple of weeks before, a bleeding lesion on the lung in the race. Silver Charm didn’t run in this one because of a bruised foot. Malek has run only once since then, finishing fourth in the Dubai World Cup. He has a chronic sore back and might be through for the year.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Hollywood Gold Cup

* When: Today.

* Where: Hollywood Park.

* Time: 4:20 p.m. post.

* TV: ESPN.

* Purse: $1 million.

* Distance: 1 1/4 miles.

* The field (post position order): Floriselli, Skip Away, Gentlemen, Bagshot, Budroyale, Don’t Blame Rio, Puerto Madero, Mud Route.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Mandella’s Six-Pack

Horses trained by Richard Mandella have won the last six $1-million races regularly run in Southern California (Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic.) The streak: *--*

Date Race Horse Jockey June 30,1996 Hollywood Gold Cup Siphon David Flores Aug. 10, 1996 Pacific Classic Dare And Go Alex Solis March 2, 1997 Santa Anita Handicap Siphon David Flores June 29, 1997 Hollywood Gold Cup Gentlemen Gary Stevens Aug. 9, 1997 Pacific Classic Gentlemen Gary Stevens March 7, 1998 Santa Anita Handicap Malek Alex Solis

Date Win Margin June 30,1996 1 length Aug. 10, 1996 3 1/2 lengths March 2, 1997 3 lengths June 29, 1997 4 lengths Aug. 9, 1997 2 3/4 lengths March 7, 1998 1/2 length

*--*