Another Big ‘Cap Stunner

The biggest shocker in Santa Anita Handicap history left trainer Richard Mandella in need of a couch. Wherever he goes for a while, the room will be spinning.

The good-news, bad-news jokes may be passe, but they still fit Mandella, who won the 61st Big ‘Cap with the horse who was only supposed to be along for the ride.

That would be Malek, the unheralded 5-year-old from Chile who wound up battling Bagshot to the wire before prevailing by a half-length. Last in the four-horse field was Gentlemen, Mandella’s other starter, who had been guaranteed a cakewalk in the $1-million race after Silver Charm was scratched Friday because of a bruised hoof.

Bob and Beverly Lewis, the owners of Silver Charm, were on hand for the winner’s circle presentation. They were as dumbfounded as Mandella. “It’s been a weekend of upsets and changes,” Bob Lewis said. “You never know, do you?”

In one of the biggest upsets in racing history, Gentlemen went off the 1-20 favorite, the shortest price ever for a Big ‘Cap runner. With win and place betting only, almost 86% of the $1.5 million in both pools went down the chute on the 6-year-old Argentine-bred. This made for some dizzy payoffs: Malek returned $13.20 to win and $15.60 to place, and Bagshot’s place price was $29.80.

A dazed Mandella, who, other than Breeders’ Cup races, has won the last six $1-million stakes in California, was unable to comprehend it all. Gentlemen had recovered from a skin rash that started 10 days ago, but a post-race examination Saturday showed that he had significant bleeding from the lungs. Although racing with Lasix, an anti-bleeding medication, Gentlemen had also bled slightly in last year’s Big ‘Cap while finishing third.

“This is one of the strangest feelings I’ve ever had,” Mandella said. “I’m enjoying it, but how can you enjoy it. . . . It’s very frustrating.”

When Gary Stevens, Gentlemen’s regular rider, opted to ride Silver Charm, Mandella brought in Pat Day, another Hall of Famer, from Gulfstream Park for the assignment. Day, who had never ridden Gentlemen, prepared for Saturday by reviewing tapes of many of the horse’s races.

Early on, Day could tell that this wasn’t a characteristic effort. He and Gentlemen were in the race, but not with any gusto, and Mandella, watching along with a crowd of 27,212, sensed something amiss as well.

“His ears never went up,” said Day, who had won another stake earlier in the day. “He never looked like he was comfortable or happy.”

Instead of leaving the other three horses in his dust, Gentlemen was battling with Malek and jockey Alex Solis for the lead going down the backstretch, while Bagshot and his rider, Corey Nakatani, lurked within range.

“[Gentlemen] should have been two lengths in front and in hand,” Mandella said. “Pat should have had a lot of horse under him, but he didn’t.”

On the turn for home, Gentlemen, owned by Hollywood Park chairman R.D. Hubbard, found himself wedged between Malek on his inside and Bagshot on the outside.

“At the quarter pole,” Day said, “I knew it would take nothing short of a miracle for us to win. From the five-sixteenths to the wire, my horse was really laboring. In the tapes, this horse showed that he’s always been very competitive. But this time he wasn’t.”

Before Saturday, Gentlemen had notched nine wins and one third in 12 starts for Mandella. His only poor races had been a sixth-place finish in his first U.S. start, in 1996, and a fifth at Woodbine late last year when Mandella switched him from dirt to grass. The defeat Saturday was Gentlemen’s first on dirt since he ran third as the 17-10 favorite in last year’s Big ‘Cap.

Still, Mandella was able to add this Big ‘Cap to a string of victories that include the Hollywood Gold Cup (Siphon) and the Pacific Classic (Dare And Go) in 1996; and the Big ‘Cap (Siphon), the Gold Cup (Gentlemen) and the Pacific Classic (Gentlemen) last year.

Malek, who was bred and owned by Francisco and Theresa Cortes of Santiago, was sent to Mandella early last year. Mandella takes his time readying South American horses for the races, so Malek didn’t make his first start until December, when he won an allowance at Hollywood Park. In his only other start, in January, Malek finished second to Hal’s Pal in the San Pasqual Handicap.

In Chile, Malek won seven of 11, with three seconds after a fourth in his first start.

He ran 1 1/4 miles Saturday in 2:02 1/5, beating Gentlemen by almost eight lengths. Don’t Blame Rio finished third, a neck in front of Gentlemen, who carried high weight of 125 pounds, 10 more than Malek.

Malek had bled slightly from the lungs in the San Pasqual and raced with Lasix in the Big ‘Cap.

“I thought that around the turn Gentlemen was going to kick in,” Solis said, “but he never did.”

Solis rode Dare And Go when he ended Cigar’s 16-race winning streak in the 1996 Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

“It’s kind of sad, but this is my job, to win races,” Solis said. “It’s a great feeling, but a little bit strange too.”

The odd rider out, Stevens watched from the jockeys’ room.

“I’m as shocked as anyone,” he said. “There have been some unbelievable circumstances the last couple of days. I’ve never seen a turn of events like this. It’s simply mind-boggling.”