Mandella Is in Search of Another Milestone

During a career that earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 2001, trainer Richard Mandella has won the Strub Stakes and San Antonio Handicap a combined seven times.

The final leg of a three-race series for 4-year-olds, the Strub has gone to Mandella twice, with Dare And Go in 1995 and Event Of The Year in ‘99, and he has won the San Antonio on five occasions, with Poley in 1984, Best Pal in ‘95, Gentlemen in ’97 and ‘98, and Redattore in 2002.

One more victory in the San Antonio, the final significant prep for the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap on March 1, will tie Mandella with the late Charlie Whittingham for most victories in the Grade II race.

“Any time you get close to Charlie, you’re doing pretty well,” Mandella said.

Long one of the country’s premier trainers, Mandella has a chance to sweep both races this weekend at Santa Anita. He’ll saddle Olmadavor in the $400,000 Strub on Saturday and Pleasantly Perfect in the $250,000 San Antonio on Sunday.

Owned and bred by Wertheimer Farm, Olmadavor, a son of A.P. Indy out of Corrazona, a stakes-winning mare who was trained by Mandella, will be making his graded stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile Strub.

Although his mother did her best work on turf, Olmadavor has so far shown a preference for the main track. He has won three of four on dirt, his only loss coming by a neck in his second outing last spring at Hollywood Park.

Scheduled to make his first start of 2003 in the San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes, which was won by Pass Rush, on Jan. 11, Olmadavor had to miss the race after suffering a bruise on his left front foot.

“He’s doing well, really well,” Mandella said. “He’s in good shape. Now is the time to see how good he is. He’s had some problems growing up. He’s in as good a shape now as he’s ever been.”

This will be the colt’s first try at nine furlongs. Two of his wins have been at seven furlongs and he won his only race around two turns, going 1 1/16miles here last fall. He beat eight rivals by four lengths in an allowance race Oct. 20.

Like his stablemate, Pleasantly Perfect will be returning from a vacation in the San Antonio, which is also 1 1/8 miles. Owned by Gerald Ford’s Diamond A Racing Corp., the 5-year-old Pleasant Colony horse hasn’t run since easily winning the Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap here Oct. 6.

Plans called for him to go on to Arlington Park for the Breeders’ Cup Classic three weeks later, but, because of rules regarding bleeders in Illinois, he wasn’t able to participate.

In Illinois, a horse who bleeds twice within a year can’t start for 30 days after the most recent episode. Pleasantly Perfect bled while winning the Goodwood.

So, it was decided to give the horse some quality time away from the track.

“We gave him three weeks and just let him relax,” Mandella said. “He’s looking great. I think he’s in fantastic shape. He’s grown up and he’s more professional.”

As a 2-year-old, Pleasantly Perfect, who has won four of nine, was diagnosed with a virus that caused inflammation around his heart.

“He would gallop and come back exhausted,” Mandella said. “We had to give him a lot of time.”

Like many others sired by Pleasant Colony, who won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 1981 before finishing third in the Belmont Stakes, Pleasantly Perfect is improving with age.

With better racing luck, he could have won last summer’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He wound up fourth, not quite three lengths behind the now-retired Came Home.

Then, in the Goodwood, he dominated his eight rivals, winning by a bit more than three lengths in 1:46 4/5 for the 1 1/8 miles.

“I don’t think I saw anybody run better all year than he did in that race,” Mandella said. “Hopefully, he can come back to that.”

Maybe the trainer will be able to pull off the same Strub-San Antonio double he did eight years ago.

Far from making any guarantees, he said, “I wouldn’t put it past either one of them.”

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Trainer Bill Spawr was fined $8,500 by Santa Anita stewards Ingrid Fermin, Pete Pedersen and Tom Ward as part of a settlement with the California Horse Racing Board for a pair of medication violations.

Bafferta, who won the sixth race on March 8, 2001, and McAdam, who won the ninth race on Jan. 1, 2002, both tested positive for albuterol, a breathing aid.

The drug is permitted but cannot be in a horse’s system above a specified level on race day.

Bafferta and McAdam were disqualified from all purse money and the money was ordered redistributed.

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Slewsbox, a hard-knocking sprinter, died earlier this week while undergoing emergency surgery for colic at UC Davis.

A 6-year-old, Washington-bred mare trained by Chuck Peery for a partnership, Slewsbox finished with nine wins in 14 starts and earned $261,085.