richard mandella | Horse Racing Free Tips

Soothsay Overcomes Bad Start, Rallies Late To Capture Indiana Oaks

Raydelz Stable's homebred Soothsay looked to have little chance of winning Wednesday evening's Grade 3 Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand after hopping in the air at the start and spotting the field several lengths, but the daughter of Distorted Humor gained ground into the far turn and rallied relentlessly down the stretch under Flavien Prat to put her neck in front at the finish and capture the winner's share of the $200,000 purse in the race for 3-year-old fillies.

Shipped to the Shelbyville, Ind., track from her home base at Santa Anita in Southern California by Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, Soothsay rallied past all eight of her rivals in the final half mile, winning by a neck over 40-1 outsider Moon Swag and local rider Deshawn Parker, with another California shipper, Lady Aces, finishing third under Umberto Rispoli, just a head behind the runner-up. They were followed across the wire by Marion Francis, Lovely Ride, 2-1 favorite Will's Secret, Sweet Pearl, Malloy and Li'l Tootsie.

Soothsay, produced from the Bernardini mare, Spellbound – herself a Grade 2 winner for Mandella – was winning for the third time in four starts. She ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:44.36 and paid $8 to win.

Lovely Ride assumed command shortly after the start of the Indiana Oaks under Gabriel Saez. She went the opening quarter mile in :24.71 and the half in :48.88 under pressure from Marion Francis and jockey Florent Geroux. Approaching the far turn, after Lovely Ride clicked off six furlongs 1:12.44, Prat began asking Soothsay to pick it up, and she willingly passed several horses around the final turn.

Heading into the stretch, Moon Swag, who saved ground just behind the top pair for much of the way, swung outside and moved toward the lead, assuming command at the eighth pole. Lovely Ride and Marion Francis fought back briefly, but the danger was coming from the outside as Soothsay was in high gear. The bay filly overtook Moon Swag in deep stretch as Lady Aces rallied alongside the winner late to finish just a head behind the runner-up.

Soothsay won her first two starts, taking a maiden sprint at Santa Anita on Feb. 26, then stretching out to win the G2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 3. That was followed on May 30 by a second-place finish as the 4-5 favorite behind Crazy Beautiful, who came back last week to win the G3 Delaware Oaks.

Soothsay (no. 2) did not get off to a good start in the Indiana Oaks

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Moonlight d’Oro on Comeback Trail

Moonlight d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), taken off the GI Kentucky Oaks trail with a knee chip following a visually impressive score in the GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita Feb. 6, is aiming for a return to Hall of Famer Richard Mandella's barn later this summer with an eye on a fall campaign.

“The surgery went well,” said Joe Mishak, MyRacehorse's Racing Operations Manager. “She's been doing great, filling out and looking really good. Just biding her time, which is standard operating procedure [following surgery], especially for the Mandella barn. The last 30 days or so she's been out at Bonnie Acres [in California] getting treadmill therapy building up her fitness. Hopefully in a couple of weeks if all things remain on course, she should go to an offsite facility to start training and get that foundation at the track. Then a month after that, she'll head back to the Mandella barn in early-to-mid August once she has the fitness.”

Campaigned in partnership with Spendthrift Farm, the $620,000 KEESEP yearling buy earned her diploma at third asking in her two-turn debut with a career-high 87 Beyer Speed Figure at Los Alamitos Dec. 13, then doubled up with a powerful last-to-first tally in the Las Virgenes.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonehaven Steadings, Moonlight d'Oro is a half-sister to the juvenile graded stakes-placed Olive Branch (Speightstown). Moonlight d'Oro's winning dam Venetian Sonata (Bernardini) is a full-sister to GSW Wilburn and SW & GSP La Appassionata and a half-sister to GSW Beethoven (Sky Mesa).

Any intended targets penciled in for Moonlight d'Oro's return to the races?

“We'll see where she is with her training, but it's kind of an awkward time of the year [for a 3-year-old filly to return],” Mishak said. “The surgery went well, but a little bit of extra caution gave her 120 days off rather than 90. Hopefully, she'll be coming back in the October timeframe, and at that stage, I think you're just looking for the right type of race to return in.

Mishak concluded, “She showed early in the year that she was the best 3-year-old filly on the West Coast. When she won the Las Virgenes, she didn't even have her best that day. It was rather exciting to get her to that level. I don't know if we'll make the Breeders' Cup this year–it's probably too close–but we'll have all of next year to have a really top filly in training.”

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Trio Of Stakes Wins Net Juan J. Hernandez Jockey Of The Week Title

Juan J. Hernandez made the most of closing weekend at Santa Anita winning three stakes races leading to Jockey of the Week honors for June 14 through June 20. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

On Saturday, trainer Richard Mandella gave a leg up to regular rider Hernandez on Kanderel in the Siren Lure Stakes at 6-1/2 furlongs on the turf. Breaking from the rail in the field of seven, Kanderel was six lengths off dueling leaders Texas Wedge and Tilted Towers heading to the far turn. With a furlong to run, Kanderel rallied from last to win in 1:14.98.

“I broke from the inside, number one post and Mr. Mandella told me to ride the horse like the last time,” said Hernandez. “My horse, he loves to come from behind. I was saving ground and at the (top of) the stretch, I decided to go outside and make my run.”

On Sunday, closing day at Santa Anita, Hernandez rode heavy favorite Big City Lights for trainer Luis Mendez in the Fasig-Tipton Futurity winning gate-to-wire by 7-1/4 lengths while getting five furlongs in :58.20.

“This horse is improving a lot,” said Hernandez. “Last time he broke a little slow, but today he broke really sharp and I was clear in front, probably three or four jumps after. When I asked him at the quarter pole, he took off again, he's a nice horse.”

Hernandez continued his winning ways by riding Warren's Showtime for trainer Craig Lewis in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes. Off as the favorite, Hernandez and Warren's Showtime were next to last travelling on the backside. At the top of the stretch, Hernandez took Warren's Showtime four wide to win the one mile turf event by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:34.29.

“We've been knocking on the door the last few times, we were third, second, just missing the winner, but today I think the pace was the key,” said Hernandez who registered his third win of the day. “That was a good pace because she was flying at the end.”

Weekly stats for Hernandez were 24-7-3-2 for 29 percent win rate, 50 percent in-the-money and total purses of $369,886 to lead all jockeys.

Hernandez out-polled Tyler Baze who won two stakes races, Alex Bizer who led all jockeys with 10 wins, Joel Rosario with a graded stakes win and Tim Thornton with a 33 percent strike rate from 24 mounts.

Hernandez finished second in the winter/spring jockey standings with 92 wins and eight graded stakes.

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Kanderel Gets Second Win In Row In Siren Lure

With a new lease on life at age four, the Richard Mandella-trained Kanderel rallied from last to take Saturday's $75,000 Siren Lure Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., his second win in a row over the course. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Kanderel got 6½ furlongs on turf in 1:14.98.

Breaking from the rail, Kanderel was about six lengths off dueling leaders Texas Wedge and Tilted Towers heading to the far turn and had nearly five lengths to make up while wide-out with a furlong to run.

“I broke from the inside, number one post and Mr. Mandella told me to ride the horse like last time,” said Hernandez. “My horse, he loves to come from behind. I just broke, the horse was comfortable being last…I was saving ground and at the (top of) the stretch, I decided to go outside and make my run. My horse helped me a lot and he responded really well.

“I rode this horse (for the) first time at Golden Gate (winning a one-mile turf stakes on June 20, 2020) and he looked like he had a lot of talent…I think when they gelded him (Oct. 1, 2020), when he came back, he was a different horse. You could feel when you ask him, he responds a lot better than before.”

A three-quarter-length second condition allowance winner at 6½ furlongs on turf May 9, Kanderel was off at 4-1 in a field of seven 3-year-olds and up and paid $10.60, $5.20, and $3.20.

A 4-year-old gelding by Candy Ride, out of the Storm Cat mare Stormica, Kanderel is owned by his breeders, Wertheimer and Frere. With the Siren Lure being his second stakes victory, Kanderel is now 13-4-1-0 overall and with the winner's share of $48,360, he increased his earnings to $195,982. His owner/breeder is Wertheimer & Frere.

“We gelded him and it took a little while for it to work,” said Mandella. “He has now settled in to being with a harder crowd. We also shortened him up and he's doing better than he did running long…I was hoping he was good enough to catch these, and he did! He ran an even better race than he did the last time.”

Ridden by Joe Bravo, French-bred Commander was fourth turning for home and ran a game second, finishing a neck in front of favored Chasin Munny. Off at 5-1, Commander paid $5.60 and $3.40.

Off as the 6-5 favorite with Flavien Prat up, Chasin Munny was fifth at the top of the lane and paid $2.20 to show while finishing one length in front of Wound Tight. Fractions on the race were 22.21, 45.96, and 1:08.20.

Trainer Richard Mandella saw improvement in Kanderel. “We gelded him, and it took a little while for it to work. He has now settled in to being with a harder crowd. We also shortened him up and he's doing better than he did running long.

“He was the better horse, and there were some pretty good horses. I was hoping he was good enough to catch these, and he did! He ran an even better race than he did the last time.”

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