richard mandella | Horse Racing Free Tips

Santa Anita: Friday’s Eddie Logan Stakes Honors Late Legend

Eddie Logan, whose home away from home was Santa Anita for nearly three-quarters of a century, will be honored Friday Dec. 31 with the running of the $100,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for two-year-olds at a mile on turf.

Logan, known affectionately as “The Footman,” operated his shoeshine stand outside the Santa Anita Racing Office from the track's opening on Christmas Day 1934 until shortly before his death at 98 on Jan. 31, 2009.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, a loyal ally and ardent admirer, has fond memories of Logan who played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in the 1920s and early 1930's, but whose lack of a formal education did not diminish his acuity.

“He was a good friend and I looked forward to going to the race track and not only getting a shoe shine, but talking with him and listening to what he had to say,” Mandella said.

“The stories he told just made you feel better.”

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Beholder’s First Foal, Q B One, to Debut Sunday

The long wait is just about over. Q B One (Uncle Mo), the first foal out of four-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder (Henny Hughes), will make his debut in Sunday's fourth race at Santa Anita, six days shy of turning four years old.

Like Beholder, he was bred by and is owned by Spendthrift Farm and is trained by Richard Mandella. Kyle Frey has been named to ride.

For now, Mandella's expectations for Q B One are rather modest.

“I wish we'd see a little more from him to get excited about,” he said. “But his works have been pretty good. I don't think we've seen anything great yet. It's time to throw him in the deep water and see what happens. He shows he might be good enough, but I'm not sure.”
Mandella is hopeful that Q B One will benefit from his debut and improve.

“I leave him a little room to improve because when it comes to his mind he's not yet 100% serious about the game yet,” he said. “I think a race will probably do him a lot of good. I think his mind is such that a race might make a man out of him, and then we can see the real deal. That's what I am hoping.”

Q B One had a five-furlong work in January and Mandella said at the time that he was just a few weeks way from making his first start.

“He had some bone bruising and needed a little time off, ” he explained. “So we had to start over.”
Mandella also trains Beholder's second foal, the 2-year-old filly Karin With an I (Curlin). She has yet to have a published workout.

“She's been fighting a virus,” he said. “She's just starting to breeze. She's a nice-looking filly. She's not too far along yet, but she does everything pretty nice.”

Beholder also has a yearling filly by War Front and a weanling filly by Bolt d'Oro. She was bred back to Curlin for 2022.
Q B One won't be the only one garnering attention in Sunday's race, as it includes a pair of pricey first-time starters from the Bob Baffert barn. Hopkins (Quality Road) was a $900,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September sale, while Shaaz (Uncle Mo) was a $1.1-million seller at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training sale. Yet the one they might all have to beat is the $5,000 Keeneland January purchase Soy Tapatio (Not This Time). Trained by Doug O'Neill, he was third in his most recent start.

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Ready For Kickoff: Beholder’s First Foal To Debut Sunday At Santa Anita

The great Beholder, who won Eclipse Awards at ages two, three, five, and six and retired with career earnings of $6.1 million, will be represented on Opening Day by her first foal to race—Q B One, a 3-year-old old colt by Uncle Mo. Like his dam, Q B One is conditioned by Richard Mandella, and he's owned by his breeder, Spendthrift Farm.

Foaled in Kentucky on Jan. 30, 2018, the dark bay or brown colt drew post position four in a field of six going 6 ½ furlongs in Sunday's fourth race.

“I've had him for a bit and he's had some minor problems,” Mandella said, “so he was sent out and came back, but he's doing well now.

“He trains good and I think racing will make him better but I don't know that his mind is really on it yet. We'll get a race into him and I'd expect going short he'll probably settle back and finish well, getting him started for better things down the road.”

Beholder, it's worth noting, ran fourth in her debut race before becoming the first horse since 1976 to win a Grade I race at age two, three, four, and five, and being one of only two horses to ever win three Breeders' Cup races.

Asked if Q B One has shown any qualities that his brilliant mother displayed, without giving away any trade secrets, Mandella responded with a typical quip.

“He has a good appetite,” he said.

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Key Del Mar Names Reflect Upon 2021, Look Forward To 2022

The curtain comes down today on the Bing Crosby Season and, thereby, racing at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., for 2021. An appropriate time, it would seem, for a few key figures to, upon request, provide thoughts and comments on the summer and fall meetings this year, reflect back on COVID-marked 2020 and ahead to 2022.

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper – “It has been a long couple years (2020-2021), but when all the dust settles, we've done terrific, and we've had a terrific year this year. I've learned not to count the people, just count the money on the tote board and there's your happy ending.”

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella – “The summer for our stable was wonderful (three stakes wins highlighted by United in the Eddie Read). The fall? It was nice to be down here, but we're packing up and heading north tomorrow licking our wounds…

“It was a big difference this year to have people back in the stands. That's what we need more of in racing is people to be here and have some fun and excitement. During COVID, it was just ourselves and the horses. With nobody to brag to after you won a race, it got pretty dull.

“Thankfully, we had racing and I don't want to take away from how lucky we were to have racing. A lot of businesses just stopped and we got to go ahead and continue to make a living without major job losses. But last year compared to this? There's no comparison. We need the people here.”

Trainer Peter Miller – “The summer was great (winning the training title and five stakes). The fall has not been up to our standards, but we've closed out with two wins on Friday and the (Jimmy Durante) stakes yesterday.”

Earlier this summer, Miller announced he was stepping back from racing and turning day-to-day operations over assistant Ruben Alvarado starting with the end of the Bing Crosby Season.

“Tomorrow morning I'm going to sleep in, have breakfast with my two boys and take them to school,” Miller said. “To say that has not been routine to this point is a real understatement.”

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – “It was nice to be able to go to the track and have people there again. Clients love to win at Del Mar, and even when you lose, it doesn't feel as bad there. It's a fun atmosphere and they've done a good job of keeping it that way. ”

Baffert won four stakes in the summer, among them the Debutante and Futurity, and added four more during the Bing Crosby meeting – among them the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. It boosted his track record stakes victory total to 147.

“I have the sign that says record (victory) No. 75, seems like a long time ago,” Baffert said … “I'll have a lot of 2-year-olds again next summer…It's the best place to develop young horses.”

Trainer Bob Hess, Jr. – “Our summer meet started out pretty darn slow, but we finished with a flourish. The fall has been a bit slow but productive. We had a big winner (Saturday) in Miss Mattie B ($61.80), a 2-year-old filly we look forward to (campaigning) next year.

“For our barn and racing in general, I believe this Del Mar dirt surface is the safest in the country and it's even better in the fall than it is in the summer. That's why I personally like to have my horses down here in the fall. It doesn't make economic sense, but I think it makes a lot of horse sense.”

Trainer Phil D'Amato – “We've had a nice exciting year (26 wins overall, six stakes) and we're looking forward to 2022. I think it's only going to get better.”

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