When it comes to Breeders’ Cup victories, trainer Richard Mandella ranks seventh, his nine wins placing him in a four-way tie with the likes of Charlie Appleby, Brad Cox, and Shug McGaughey. When it comes to Breeders’ Cup victories at Santa Anita – a track which for the 11th time hosts this event on Nov. 3-4 – Mandella ranks first, as all nine of his wins have come at his home track in Arcadia, Calif. Bob Baffert, whose 18 victories tie him for second most in the Breeders’ Cup with Aidan O’Brien, has seven wins at Santa Anita. Even when Mandella’s horses don’t win at Santa Anita, they typically run well. In 2019, the last time the event was held in Arcadia, United, at 51-1, finished second to even-money favorite Bricks and Mortar in the Turf. That year, Omaha Beach was second as the favorite in the Dirt Mile. In 2016, the year Beholder won the Distaff for Mandella at Santa Anita, Avenge finished third, beaten one length, at 18-1 in the Filly and Mare Turf. “I don’t know how to explain it. I happen to have amazing horses at the times the races are here,” Mandella said. “I don’t think I train any differently. I have shipped and won other places. It’s kind of strange. I don’t know how to explain, but I’m not going to fight it.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division This year, Mandella plans to have three Breeders’ Cup starters. In Tamara, a daughter of three-time Breeders’ Cup winner Beholder, Mandella will likely send out the favorite in the Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 3. On Nov. 4 – the day before his 73rd birthday – Mandella will send out the 3-year-old Geaux Rocket Ride in the $6 million Classic as well as Lane Way in the Turf Sprint. It was in 2003 that Pleasantly Perfect won the Classic at 14-1, capping an afternoon in which Mandella won four of the eight Breeders’ Cup races run when the event was one day. Pleasantly Perfect came back to run third behind Ghostzapper in the 2004 Classic, but Mandella hasn’t run in the race since. He’s tried. In 2005, Mandella had to scratch Rock Hard Ten from the Classic due to an injured foot. In 2015, Mandella had to scratch Beholder from the Classic – and a highly anticipated showdown with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah – after she bled in a routine gallop. Geaux Rocket Ride, a 3-year-old son of Candy Ride, had his issues early in the year. After he finished second to Practical Move in the Grade 2 San Felipe in March, Geaux Rocket Ride was entered in the Santa Anita Derby. But the morning of the race he had a 103-degree temperature and was scratched. Geaux Rocket Ride returned to the races on June 4, winning the Affirmed Stakes to set him up for a try in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth. Under Mike Smith, who was riding the horse for the first time, Geaux Rocket Ride put away the pacesetting Arabian Knight and turned back a bid from Kentucky Derby winner Mage to win the Haskell by 1 3/4 lengths. In a rematch with Arabian Knight in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Sept. 2, Geaux Rocket Ride was making a run at the pacesetting Arabian Knight, but fell a neck short at the wire. “Very happy with it. The only way I’d be happier is if he’d put his nose in front,” Mandella said. “He was trying, he was getting close. He ran a winning race; we’ll go on to the next step.” Mandella briefly thought about running Geaux Rocket Ride in the Awesome Again on Sept. 30, but instead opted to simply target the Classic. “I added up what he’s done through the year and thought I’d feel pretty foolish if he ran great in the Awesome Again and came up empty in the Breeders’ Cup,” Mandella said. “I’d feel guilty, like I asked too much.” Geaux Rocket Ride has worked four times since the Pacific Classic, though his workout on Monday won’t have an official time because it was done in the fog. “Mike Smith worked him and he was very happy with him,” Mandella said. The same Mike Smith who leads all jockeys in Breeders’ Cup wins with 27, 13 of those coming at Santa Anita. A home-field advantage indeed. ◗ While Grade 1 Awesome Again winner Slow Down Andy had to defect from the Classic due to an injury, Senor Buscador, third in the Awesome Again, is still pointing to the race if he can get in. Noting the speed-favoring nature of the sealed, muddy Santa Anita surface for the Awesome Again, trainer Todd Fincher said, “I thought it might have been his best race.” Senor Buscador rallied from about 10 lengths back to get within 3 1/4 lengths at the wire. He beat Slow Down Andy in the Grade 2 Californian at Del Mar before finishing fourth to Arabian Knight in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. ◗ Trainer Chad Summers says he’s in “a holding pattern” with Clapton, winner of the Grade 2 Lukas Classic on Sept. 30. Clapton is back at Belmont Park, and Summers said he is training him toward the Classic but likely wouldn’t ship unless he knew he was in the body of the race. Clapton won the Grade 3 Ghostzapper in April and was third in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special, second in the Grade 2 Suburban, and fourth in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.