Tag: People

Russell Baze, who recorded 12,842 career wins, 270 of them stakes, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award.

The treasured Gomez Award is given to the person, Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or regular rider in the country for more than five years, who has made significant contributions to Thoroughbred racing. It is named in memory of one of the sport's most successful and revered performers. The Cuban-born Gomez died of complications after a three-horse accident in the 1980 Canadian Oaks.

To commemorate his lasting contributions to the sport, a life-size statue of Gomez, who called Toronto home and raised a family there, keeps watch over Woodbine's walking ring. A replica is presented to each year's recipient.

“It's always nice to be recognized by people in the industry that you're involved in,” said Baze. “This is the kind of award that everybody should be very honored to receive.”

Baze, who retired in 2016, is no doubt deserving of such distinction, having enjoyed phenomenal success over a career that got out of the gates at the age of 16.

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Baze was a prominent name on the North American racing circuit for 42 years, finishing as the all-time leader for wins by a jockey.

His winning ways began on October 28, 1974, at Yakima Meadows, aboard a horse trained by his father, Joe, a former jockey.

It was just the beginning for the younger Baze, who would put together head-turning numbers season after season.

Baze paced all North American jockeys in wins a remarkable 13 times.

His run of striking success at Golden Gate Fields continued into the late 2000's. On February 1, 2008, Baze became the first North American rider to win 10,000 career races. The decorated horseman would go on to record 54 riding titles at Golden Gate and 5,765 total victories at the track.

Baze's brilliance at Golden Gate was not to be outdone by his unrivaled stretch of dominance at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, California. There, he won 40 riding titles, including every meet from 1981 until the track closed in 2008.

His résumé also features a strong collection of Grade 1 victories, such as the Ancient Title, King's Bishop, Santa Monica Handicap, and Oak Tree Invitational. Overall, he earned 97 graded stakes triumphs.

Led by Eclipse Award winners Lost in the Fog and Shared Belief, Baze teamed up with several stars over the course of his storied career. Other notable names included Hawkster, Summer Hill, Smiling Tiger, Lexicon, Cause to Believe, Tricky Trevor, Bold Chieftain, Chocolate Candy, Lite Light, and Both Ends Burning.

No stranger to the history books, Baze surpassed Hall of Fame rider, Laffit Pincay Jr., to become the winningest jockey in the history of North American racing when he rode his 9,531st winner, Butterfly Belle, at Bay Meadows on December 1, 2006.

In 1994, he was presented with a Special Eclipse Award for having won 400 or more races in four consecutive years. Altogether, Baze won 400 or more races 13 different times, headlined by a career-high of 448 in 1995.

In 1999, he was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. In 2002, Baze earned the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award for his contributions to the sport, both on and off the track, as voted on by his peers.

Ten years later, he became a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“When I started out, I was just a kid who enjoyed riding, and I wasn't very good at it either, but as I went along and became a more competent rider, all the accolades that have come my way were something I never even dreamed of.

“All I wanted to do was go out there and win as many races as I could and do the best job I could, not only for the owners and trainers, but also the fans.”

The Avelino Gomez Memorial Award ceremony will take place on July 23 at Woodbine, on Woodbine Oaks day.

Although he won't be present for the ceremony, Baze extended his gratitude to those who will be trackside to take part in the festivities and to those who selected him as this year's Gomez recipient.

Baze also recognized the enduring legacy of the rider known as “El Perfecto.”

“Avelino set a legacy of excellence. His win percentage was excellent, he won all the big races. What else can you say? He was just a great all-around rider.”

Baze joins Ron Turcotte, Johnny Longden, Sandy Hawley, Don MacBeth, Chris Rogers, Jeff Fell, Lloyd Duffy, Hugo Dittfach, Robin Platts, Larry Attard, Don Seymour, David Gall, Richard Grubb, Irwin Driedger, David Clark, Jim McKnight, Chris Loseth, Richard Dos Ramos, Robert Landry, Francine Villeneuve, Sam Krasner, John LeBlanc Sr., George Ho Sang, Jack Lauzon, Robert King Jr., Stewart Elliott, Emile Ramsammy, Steve Bahen, Mickey Walls, Patrick Husbands, Quincy Welch, Gary Stahlbaum, Gary Boulanger, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Frank Barroby, Eurico Rosa da Silva and Slade Callaghan as Gomez recipients.

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Journeyman jockey Angel Castillo is usually found riding at Parx or other mid-Atlantic tracks, but on Saturday he had the call on Yo Yo Candy in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga. As Yo Yo Candy's regular rider, he was happy to make the trip.

The 2-year-old colt's win marked Castillo's first graded stakes victory in North America and led to Castillo being honored as Jockey of the Week for July 10 through July 16 by a panel of racing experts. The award recognizes jockeys for riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1,050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

When trainer Daniel Velazquez gave a leg up to Castillo on Yo Yo Candy in the G3 Sanford, it marked just the second mount for Castillo at the storied Saratoga Race Course. His last visit was in 2012.

Off at odds of 46-1 in the field of nine, YoYo Candy broke cleanly from post position four and raced in fourth behind early leaders Dickens and Market Street. Yo Yo Candy fanned four wide into the stretch and took the lead at five furlongs, edging away to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:11.83 for the six-furlong contest. Post time favorite Gold Sweep was second after stumbling badly out of the gate.

“I'm always looking for opportunities to demonstrate my talent and I try to take my one or two opportunities,” said Castillo. “The trip was very good. I had a good start and good position in the race. In the turn, he charged outside and in the stretch he ran very good.”

Castillo, 53, is considered one of the top riders in Venezuela of all time. He moved his tack to the United States in 2000. His lifetime statistics in the United States include 957 wins and more than $25 million in purse earnings to date.

Castillo outpolled fellow riders Javier Castellano with two stakes wins including the Gr. III Schuylerville, Tyler Conner with a stakes win at Gulfstream and nine wins for the week, Flavien Prat who won the Gr. I Diana and Jaime Rodriguez who won 11 races to lead all jockeys for the week.

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Yorkshire-based-trainer Julie Camacho won her first Group 1 last month at Royal Ascot, and has now added a second, once again with her lightning colt, Shaquille, despite rearing at the start of Saturday's Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket.. It was a memorable day for his jockey, Rossa Ryan, who was winning his first Group 1.

The July Cup looked an open field as Shaquille took on seven rivals over the six furlongs, a field which included Little Big Bear, who he defeated in the Commonwealth Cup last month at Royal Ascot. Once again, Shaquille came out on top.

Henry Candy will be pleased with the performance of his horse, Run To Freedom, who ran into second place at 28/1, and Kinross back in third.

Speed is the name of the game on the July Course, and this colt oozes just that. Just like in the Commonwealth Cup, Shaquille, this time ridden by Rossa Ryan, reared at the start and was left trailing. But once again, the prowess of this colt drew him forward on the July course undulations and once he hit the front, that was it.

Shaquille is not for stopping in the feature Group 1 @PertempsJobs July Cup Stakes with the three-year-old producing a dominant performance in the hands of @Rossaryan15 for the @JCamachoRacing team pic.twitter.com/oU1u9A6tmU

— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 15, 2023

Julie Camacho has a real superstar on her hands and speaking with the Racing Post, she said: “I'm a bit overwhelmed,” said Camacho. “I know Rossa had discussed the horse with James and what to do with him.”

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Richard Mandella has been selected by the Board of Directors of the Thoroughbred Club of America as the 2023 Honor Guest, Club President Charlie Boden announced Monday.

“The Thoroughbred Club of America is delighted to name Richard Mandella as its 2023 Honor Guest,” said Boden. “Richard is a shining example of what past generations traditionally thought of when they considered what a great trainer is – a real 'throwback' who has never had more than 40 horses in his barn. He is steadfast in his care of the animal with a long view of what that animal could accomplish if given the time to flourish. His care for the horses in his barn is matched by his support of the people who he employs to take such good care of them. He is a consummate professional in every aspect of his trade evidenced by his exemplary integrity record and his body of work as is shown by the great horses he has had his hands on.

“His unheralded service to the industry by his continued support of entities devoted to the welfare of the horse is also exemplary. A Hall of Fame inductee in 2001 and the trainer of nine Breeders' Cup winners to date, his acceptance of our honor fills a frame on our wall which will make every member of The Thoroughbred Club of America proud.”

Mandella will be honored by the Club at its 92nd Testimonial Dinner, which will be held at Keeneland on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023.

Richard Mandella's journey to the Thoroughbred racing Hall of Fame began in Beaumont, Calif., a rural outpost to the east of Los Angeles where his father, Gene Mandella, was the go-to farrier for a number of local farms. Gene's son, born Nov. 5, 1950, was naturally drawn to the equine world, juggling high school and hard work at the Three Rings Ranch of George and Connie Ring just long enough to discover he could make some kind of career out of his emerging talent with temperamental Thoroughbreds.

Early on, Mandella found a kindred spirit in V.J. “Lefty” Nickerson, a New York-based trainer who hired the young Californian as an assistant. When Nickerson returned to the East in the spring of 1973, he left Mandella in charge of a few horses at Santa Anita. Mandella responded by saddling Elmendorf Farm's classy Big Spruce to win the prestigious San Luis Rey Stakes by 10 lengths, leaving turf champion Cougar II in his wake.

By the end of 1974, Mandella was training privately for breeder Roger Braugh. Two years later, at the urging of Dr. Buck Wynne, Jr., Mandella went public. In 1977, he broke through with graded stakes victories by the California-breds Bad n' Big and Now Pending. By 1981 his stable earnings topped the million-dollar mark. The momentum was undeniable.

Even in a training colony that included Charlie Whittingham, Bobby Frankel, Wayne Lukas, and Ron McAnally, Mandella was making his presence felt. Owners such as Maxwell Gluck, Marty Wygod, John C. Mabee, R.D. Hubbard, Jonabell Farm, and Herman Sarkowsky were early Mandella adopters, later to be joined by Gerald J. Ford, Claiborne Farm, Alain and Pierre Wertheimer, Rick Porter, Ramona Bass, Burt Bacharach, and B. Wayne Hughes. Such owners brought with them future major winners and champions including Kotashaan, Beholder, Phone Chatter, Gentlemen, Halfbridled, Pleasantly Perfect, and Omaha Beach.

The first trainer on the Thoroughbred Club's list of Honor Guests is James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, cited in 1955 for his work with the likes of Gallant Fox, Omaha, and Nashua, as well as living up to his nickname. Mandella is the 10th trainer so honored, along with Whittingham, Lukas, Preston Burch, Horatio Luro, Woody Stephens, Alec Head, MacKenzie Miller, and Shug McGaughey, who was the Honor Guest in 2013.

Unique in the record of Mandella is sending out both dead heat winners of a Grade 1 Stakes, which he accomplished with Beautiful Melody and Reluctant Guest in the 1990 Beverly Hills Handicap. Other extraordinary accomplishments by Mandella include winning four Breeders' Cup races on a single program and guiding one horse (Beholder) through four championship seasons.

The trainer attained Hall of Fame status in 2001, some noting with surprise that he made it to the hallowed walls in Saratoga Springs without winning a Kentucky Derby, a Preakness, or a Belmont Stakes. Mandella already had answered by taking a sweeping array of major stakes from coast to coast, including such historic prizes as the Metropolitan Handicap, Haskell Invitational, Early Times Turf Classic, Donn Handicap, Ballerina Stakes, Oaklawn Handicap, and the Pimlico Special, while back home in California he was winning an amazing six straight million-dollar races annually based in the state – two versions each of the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic – between 1996 and 1998. Inspired by his induction, Mandella has gone on to win a Dubai World Cup and add to his current total of nine Breeders' Cup victories.

Mandella also brings to his role as 2023's Honor Guest a reputation as a passionate advocate for the sport that has given him so much. His time as the long-serving chairman of the Necropsy Committee of the California Horse Racing Board has led to enlightening discoveries in equine injuries. He is a director of the Oak Tree Racing Association, which operated a charitable meeting in California for four decades. He is a steady supporter of organizations like CARMA, which funds Thoroughbred retirement and retraining, and the Gregson Foundation, a leading source of college scholarships for the children of backstretch workers.

Mandella and his wife, Randi, have passed on their commitment to racing to the next generation. Their son, Gary Mandella, is his father's chief assistant and a stakes-winning trainer in his own right, while their daughter, Andrea Birkman, previously served as director of development and donor relations for New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program and currently owns a home furnishings boutique in Lexington, Ky.

“I can't express how proud I am to receive this honor,” Mandella said. “I would like to thank the owners who have allowed me to train their horses and the great people that I've had working for me through all the years. I especially want to thank my family for allowing me to devote the time to do something I truly love.

“As for the horses,” Mandella added, “it's no real secret. The faster the better. And I've found the better they are, the more they're able to understand my training.”

The Thoroughbred Club Testimonial Dinner was inaugurated in 1932, the year the Club was founded, to recognize distinguished contributions of leadership as well as success in the Thoroughbred industry. The first recipient was Col. E. R. Bradley, and other winners include William Woodward Sr., three generations of the Hancock family of Claiborne Farm, plus Ted Bassett, Alice Chandler, Chris McCarron, and The Honorable Brereton C. Jones. To learn more about The Thoroughbred Club of America visit us online at www.thethoroughbredclub.com.

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