Mandella Has a Perfect Plan

You can’t question trainer Richard Mandella’s decision to run Pleasantly Perfect in today’s $1-million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, even though the 4-year-old colt has never been in a stakes race.

Mandella can’t match Bobby Frankel in the Classic, Frankel having won six of the 11 runnings, but Mandella has won the race twice and in 1996 etched himself forever as the Del Mar giant killer when he ganged up on Cigar with Dare And Go and Siphon. Now Mandella will try to upset another favored Pacific Classic horse, War Emblem, the first Kentucky Derby winner to run in the stake as a 3-year-old.

“This is what a million-dollar purse is supposed to do,” said Mandella, explaining why Pleasantly Perfect and 12 other horses are taking on War Emblem. “You’re supposed to try harder when there’s that much money on the line.”

Mandella, who won in 1996 with Dare And Go, breaking Cigar’s 16-race winning streak, and repeated in 1997 with Gentlemen, jokes about how he decided on the Pacific Classic for Pleasantly Perfect.

“I was looking at the condition book, and this was the only mile-and-a-quarter race I could find,” he said.

The truth is that Pleasantly Perfect, a son of 1981 Derby winner Pleasant Colony and a grandson of Affirmed, the 1978 Triple Crown champion, is at his best when the races are the longest. In his last start, at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 4, Pleasantly Perfect won by 3 1/2 lengths and seemed to be begging for more ground.

“When I bought this horse [at auction in 1999 for $725,000], I could see Pacific Classic written all over him,” Mandella said.

Pleasantly Perfect, who will be ridden by Alex Solis, the same jockey who orchestrated Dare And Go’s shocker against Cigar, is 15-1 on the morning line. With only seven starts--including three victories and two seconds--he’s the most lightly raced horse in the field.

“He had a virus near his heart sac when he was a yearling,” Mandella said. “When they had him at the farm in Kentucky, he would gallop a mile and get exhausted. His heart rate would go down instead of going up after a workout. It took a lot of rest before he was ready to be introduced to the races.”

He made that debut in May 2001 at Hollywood Park, but when Pleasantly Perfect finished last in a field of 10, it was decided to give him more time. He didn’t run again until last January. Then, in his third start of 2002, at Santa Anita in late February, the colt broke his maiden. He goes into today’s race off two consecutive wins, an allowance victory at Hollywood preceding the Del Mar victory. He has never raced at distances shorter than a mile.

“I think he’s as good as he’s going to get right now,” Mandella said. “If he fits in this race, we’ll have some nice things--including the Breeders’ Cup [Classic]--to point to at the end of the year.”

To beat Cigar, Mandella needed two horses, Siphon softening up the 1-10 favorite early and setting the stage for Dare And Go’s late run. For most trainers, such a feat would be a career benchmark, but Mandella, who was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame last year, lumps the fall of Cigar into a group of accomplishments.

“Beating Cigar was great, but it would be pretty hard to top what happened to me at the Breeders’ Cup in 1993,” he said.

That year at Santa Anita, Mandella saddled four stakes winners--Kotashaan in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf; Phone Chatter in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies, and Region and Memo in hundred-granders on the undercard. Kotashaan was later voted horse of the year.

“The 1-2-3 in the [1997 Santa Anita Handicap] with Siphon, Sandpit and Gentlemen was pretty sweet too,” Mandella said. “And the dead heat for the win with those two mares [Beautiful Melody and Reluctant Guest in the 1990 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park] is way up there. Boy, did I have some strange emotions going into the winner’s circle that day.”

By definition, the 12th edition of the Pacific Classic is a jockeys’ race. What to do with War Emblem--how much to push him early, how far back to position your horse--is what the 13 riders in the race besides Victor Espinoza must sort out. Skimming won the last two Pacific Classics by running on an uncontested lead.

“I don’t think we’ll have a Skimming situation, not with all the other speed in this race,” said Mandella, who didn’t have a starter either year. “But who knows? The jocks might read all this stuff about going out with War Emblem and then all of them decide to take back with their mounts.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*--* Pacific Classic * The race: Today’s $1-million race will be run as the fifth race on Del Mar program * Distance: 1 1/4 miles. Post time: 2:42 p.m * TV: ESPN (coverage starts at 2 p.m.)

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