ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Mike Mitchell is hanging it up – sort of. Among the top trainers in Southern California with 18 meet titles and 2,678 wins, including a record 476 at Del Mar, Mitchell will turn over his operation to assistant Phil D’Amato after the sixth race Sunday at Santa Anita. Good Samurai will be Mitchell’s final starter. “I’ve got to slow down a little bit,” Mitchell said. “I want to be able to train but also travel. My health issues have slowed me down. I’m good now, but I can’t do what I used to do.” [DRF Live: Get live reports and handicapping insights from Santa Anita this Saturday] Mitchell, 66, underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2012, followed by lengthy treatment and recovery. While Mitchell was away, D’Amato ran the stable. “My owners all know Phil and have accepted him,” Mitchell said. “Phil is the one they’ve been dealing with, and they like the fact that I am still involved.” Mitchell plans to be at the track most mornings, supervising workouts and scouting potential claims. The main change is that Mitchell and D’Amato will flip-flop names in the track program. D’Amato will be listed as trainer, and Mitchell will be listed as assistant trainer. Mitchell trains more than 30 horses; D’Amato has 15. After Sunday, the entire stable will run for D’Amato, who is 37 and has worked for Mitchell for 10 years. “Mike’s been like a father figure to me as far as racetrack relationships,” D’Amato said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity.” Mitchell’s final Grade 1 victory was at Hollywood Park during the fall meet, when Egg Drop won the Matriarch for Little Red Feather racing stable. Billy Koch, the stable’s managing partner and a longtime Mitchell client, reflected on Mitchell’s decision. "Any time someone of Mike’s stature steps down, you’re sad,” Koch said. “We’ll miss his style, his personality, his horsemanship. But we have great faith in Phil. To us, he is an extension of Mike.” Mitchell is known primarily as a claiming trainer but in recent years upgraded his stable. His Grade 1 winners in addition to Egg Drop include Obviously, Camp Victory, Kela, Star Over the Bay, Jaycito, Monzante, Ever a Friend, and Romance Is Diane. Mitchell will have saddled 12,441 starters, and his horses will have earned more than $67 million. Mitchell is married to Denise, and they have two daughters. Shea is married to jockey Julien Leparoux; they live in Kentucky. McCall is married to bloodstock agent Craig Rounsefell; they live in Australia.