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After Eventful Campaign, Mandaloun Returns at Fair Grounds

Mandaloun (Into Mischief) finished second in the GI Kentucky Derby and will be declared the winner if Medina Spirit (Protonico) is ever disqualified for a betamethasone positive. He didn't cross the wire first in the GI Haskell S. either, but was awarded the win after the stewards disqualified Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) for interference. It pays to be both lucky and good.

But a page has been turned and Mandaloun will kick off his 4-year-old season Saturday at the Fair Grounds in the GIII Louisiana S., the first step in a campaign where he very well could prove that he can win at the Grade I level without the assistance of the stewards or a drug testing laboratory.

“You're always looking forward to a horses maturing and getting faster as they get older,” said his trainer, Brad Cox. “He's trained really well and his gallop-outs are really good. He's in a really good place right now, mentally and physically. I think this is a good spot to get him back started and see where he takes us.”

Mandaloun, 26-1 in the Derby, exceeded most expectations to finish second, a half-length behind the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit. More than eight months later, there hasn't been a word from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission about Medina Spirit's positive, one reason among many that it could take years for the 2021 Derby to be declared official. It's not something that Cox is worried about.

“I don't think about it,” Cox said of the Derby. “I really don't and that's because it is out of my hands. I've got enough going on that I don't need to worry about what ifs or what's going to happen. It's not the way you want to win a race of that caliber, so we'll just keep marching forward and develop Mandaloun and do enough with him to try to enhance his resume and get him off to the stallion barn where he can make some big, beautiful babies.”

Mandaloun skipped both the GI Preakness S. and the GI Belmont S. before resurfacing at Monmouth Park. He won the Pegasus, a prep for the Haskell, and then finished a nose behind Hot Rod Charlie in the the Haskell. Hot Rod Charlie was disqualified for bothering Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow).

“He was coming back on Hot Rod Charlie that day,” Cox said. “Obviously, Hot Rod Charlie got to the wire first, but I think that in a couple more jumps we could have got to him. It was a very courageous race and he showed a lot of grit and determination. It was really good race and it made him a Grade I winner.”

Mandaloun has not raced since the July 17 Haskell.

“He was asking for a break,” Cox said. “I wasn't real happy with his weight post-Haskell. He had two long ships from Churchill and it was really hot at Monmouth when he was there. He wasn't quire right. We did all the diagnostics on him and we never did find anything. We gave him some time and he's come back a fit, happy, healthy horse.”

In most Grade IIIs, a horse with Mandaloun's resume would be a heavy favorite, but he has to contend with Midnight Bourbon once again. It will be the fifth meeting between the two. Midnight Bourbon won last year's GIII Lecomte S. over Mandaloun but Mandaloun finished in front of his rival the next three times they met, including in the Derby where Midnight Bourbon was sixth. Midnight Bourbon is making his first start since finishing third in the Nov. 26 GI Clark S. at Churchill Downs.

“We've won this race twice and this is definitely the toughest edition we've ever been part of,” said Cox, who will also send out GIII Oklahoma Derby winner Warrant (Constitution) in the Louisiana. “Midnight Bourbon is a very good horse and I think they're thinking the same way we are, that this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things down the road. It's an opportunity for both horses to race out of their own stall, get a race under their belts and get their year kicked off.”

Cox said that Mandaloun's schedule beyond the Louisiana has yet to be determined, but the Feb. 26 GI Saudi Cup could be next for the colt owned by Juddmonte.

“(Juddmonte General Manager) Garrett O'Rourke will get together with the Juddmonte team and come up with a game plan in regards to the Saudi Cup and see of that is something we want to turn our attention toward,” Cox said. “For me, the mindset is it's one step at a time. Hopefully, he makes a good account of himself Saturday and then a race like the Saudi Cup could be part of his future.”

Cox has lost a likely Eclipse Award winner in Essential Quality (Tapit) to the breeding shed where he will soon be joined by former stablemate Knicks Go (Paynter). The latter, a cinch to be named Horse of the Year and champion older male, will be retired after starting in the Jan. 29 Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. That will leave a big void in the Cox barn, but he's optimistic it is one that Mandaloun can fill.

“This horse has always trained well,” Cox said. “Since the fall of his 2-year-old season we thought he was a horse that could take us to the Kentucky Derby, and he did. Had a great season last year and we're hopeful he can do even better this year.”

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Cox: Well-Beaten Concert Tour ‘Probably A Need-The-Lead Horse’

Concert Tour's first start at 4 resembled his last start at 3 – prominent early and leg weary late.

Making his first start since the Preakness last May, Concert Tour finished last of nine in Saturday's $150,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park for older horses at one mile. The 3-2 favorite stalked the early pace before being beaten 15 lengths in his first start for trainer Brad Cox and first without blinkers.

“He's fine,” Cox said Sunday afternoon. “He bounced out of it. Obviously, there's some frustration, but that's part of it.”

Two of Concert Tour's three victories for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert came when leading at every point of call, including his career debut last January at Santa Anita and the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds last March at Oaklawn. The 1 1/16-mile Rebel was Concert Tour's first race around two turns.

Concert Tour didn't make the early lead in his next start, the $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) last April at Oaklawn, and finished third and faded to ninth in the Preakness, beaten 34 ¼ lengths, after racing just off the early pace.

“I think he's one of those horses, California, he broke, he's on the lead and he won,” Cox said. “He came here, he broke good, he's on the lead and he won. I think he's probably a need-the-lead horse. He probably couldn't have got the lead yesterday, I don't really think, with that Mucho in the race. But at the three-eighths pole, he was kind of packing it in.”

While Cox will regroup with Concert Tour, the trainer still has a deep roster of older two-turn older stakes types, including Oaklawn-based Plainsman and Caddo River for John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs.

Caddo River, who finished second in the Arkansas Derby after beating Concert Tour to the lead, is entered in Saturday's seventh race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance. Caddo River crossed the finish line first in his comeback race, a Dec. 19 allowance at one mile, but was disqualified and placed second for interference near the wire.

Plainsman, a multiple Grade 3 winner, is scheduled to make his 2022 debut in the $600,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12. Plainsman finished a troubled third in his last start, the $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.

The Fifth Season was Oaklawn's first major 2022 prep for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses April 23.

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Bettor Suing Baffert Leaving the Racing Game

Michael Beychok has been one of the most visible horseplayers in the sport for a while. He's a winner of the National Handicapping Championship, a horseplayer advocate and a public handicapper for the New Orleans Times-Picayune who has spent the better part of his life betting on the horses. Just not for much longer.

Beychok, who is the leading figure in a class-action lawsuit filed by gamblers who say they would have made money on the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby had it not been won by Medina Spirit (Protonico), says he has grown so disillusioned by the sport that he will stop betting on a regular basis after attending this year's National Handicapping Championship. His future bets will be limited to the handful of times he attends live racing.

“I'm just fed up with the drug cheating,” he said. “I'm fed up with the takeout. I'm fed up that we apparently can't get into a position to implement new and better drug testing. I have more outlets now to gamble. I live in Louisiana, which was a state, up until last year, where the only thing available was horse racing. Now, there is daily fantasy sports, which I enjoy, and the takeout is much, much better. Soon we will have on-line sports betting. I am a consumer. I have just found better products.”

Beychok made headlines last year when filing a suit against Baffert, contending that he would have made more than $50,000 on the Derby had the race been won by Mandaloun (Into Mischief). Mandaloun finished second behind the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who tested positive for the banned race-day medication betamethasone. He wants the court to rule that Baffert must compensate gamblers involved in the suit who would have cashed if Medina Spirit did not win.

“My first motivation was as a gambler,” he said. “I was kind of pissed off when it was announced he was positive for a banned race-day drug. Looking back on what had happened in the past with some of Baffert's positives in major races, I just knew that nothing was going to happen. I felt I had to do something because I didn't think anyone else would. I decided I wasn't going to take it anymore. I was going to do something not only for myself but for the more than 250 other bettors who have joined our class action. We're tired of being defrauded by Bob Baffert. In big races, his horses keep turning up positive.”

Beychok insists this isn't about the money.

“Any money that I get from this lawsuit, I'm donating to Thoroughbred aftercare,” he said. “I'm not putting a penny of this money into my pocket. Hopefully, I do get paid. But what I'm trying to do is to raise the point that we cannot, in a game of chance, on a game of gambling, let anybody, be it Bob Baffert, Jason Servis, Jorge Navarro, defraud us as bettors.”

Baffert's legal team has fought back and is seeking to have Beychok's suit thrown out. In a court filing last week, Baffert said Beychok's allegations were libelous and called his actions a matter of a “tinfoil conspiratorial premise.”

“That was for public consumption,” Beychok said. “That's all. I just laughed at it. The judge will look at the law and decide if applies in this case or if it doesn't.”

Beychok said he's not surprised that Baffert is putting up a good fight.

“Bob Baffert is very good at this and he has a very good PR machine,” he said. “He's good at it because he had to do it so many times over the last 15 years when his horses have tested positive. He's got to come up with an excuse, a PR campaign. He's good at this stuff and so are his lawyers.”

Beychok said he would like to see Baffert issue a mea culpa.

“My hope for this game that I do love is that he does what Lance Armstrong did,” Beychok said. “At some point, he needs to come clean and tell the truth. That might preserve some of his legacy.”

While about to step back, Beychok said he's willing to give horse racing another chance, that is if there are meaningful changes.

“I hope it changes because I love the game and the people in it,” he said. “I hope everything changes and I can say I am back. If I ever feel like this is a fair game I will come back.”

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Spielberg Could Target Big ‘Cap After Comeback Allowance Win

With his well fancied stablemate Classier duking it out on the front end with second choice Vittorio, Bob Baffert's Spielberg, idle since well beaten in the Grade 1 Florida Derby March 27, was more than happy to pounce on the tiring duo a quarter mile from home and he promptly waltzed to a three length score in Friday's $72,000 allowance feature at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Spielberg, a 4-year-old colt by Union Rags, got a flat mile in 1:38.89 registering his third win from 10 lifetime starts.

“We gave him plenty of time and unfortunately the other horse didn't run well,” said Baffert. “I just told Flavien to sit back there and let him run his race. We gave him some time off, he's filled out and we'll stay here with him. Something like the Big 'Cap (Santa Anita Handicap, G1 on March 5) would be more like it. He won't be shipping anywhere, he'll stay here.”

A comfortable third, about six lengths off the leaders heading up the backside, Prat began asking Spielberg to close in at the 3 ½ furlong pole and turning for home he had a length on Vittorio as Classier dropped back readily.

A winner of the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity in his final start at age two on Dec. 19, 2020, Spielberg was winless in three starts at three and was off at 5-2 in a field of five older horses, returning $7.40, $4.80 and $4.00.

Owned by Golconda Stables, Madaket Stables, LLC, SF Racing, LLC, Siena Farm, LLC, Starlight Racing and Robert Masterson, Spielberg, who is out of the Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, fetched $1 million as a Keenland September Yearling. With today's winner's share of $43,200, he increased his earnings to $463,700 and improved his overall mark to 10-3-3-1.

Ridden by Edwin Maldonado, Wicked Trick, a 7-year-old gelding, rallied from last to finish 2 ¾ lengths in front of longshot Surfing Star. Off at 10-1, Wicked Trick paid $8.20 and $4.40.

Next to last in the early going, Surfing Star was up to touch Vittorio for third money by three quarters of a length. Ridden by Jessica Pyfer, Surfing Star was off at 24-1 and paid $6.40 to show.

Classier, with John Velazquez up, was eased through the lane and finished a distant last as the 4-5 favorite.

Fractions on the race were 23.09, 46.85, 1:12.16 and 1:25.29.

Special early first post time for a 10-race California Cup Day card on Saturday is at 12 noon. There is also a mandatory payout in the 20 cent Single Ticket Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot, with the possibility of a $4 million total pool. Admission gates open at 10 a.m.

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