When Santa Anita Park hosts the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella will most likely recall some of the best days of his career. In 2003, Mandella saddled winners of four of the eight Breeders’ Cup races, including the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) with Pleasantly Perfect, for earnings of $4,564,040—considered one of the sport’s greatest single-day achievements.
Mandella was almost as good in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, winning two Breeders’ Cup races and two other stakes for earnings of $1,697,500.
The 2012 and 2013 Breeder's Cup produced two more wins with the super talented filly, Beholder who won the Juvenile Fillies at two and then the Breeder's Cup Distaff at three for Spendthrift owner, B. Wayne Hughes, giving him a total of eight scores in championship races.
Mandella worked for his father, Gene, a blacksmith in Beaumont, Cal., and broke and galloped horses at Connie Ring’s neighboring Three Rings Ranch while in high school. He then worked for Farrell Jones on his California ranch and assisted Lefty Nickerson in New York before training privately for Roger Braugh in 1974. He opened a public stable in California in 1976 and since that time has won over 2,000 races.
Other significant trainees include Action This Day, Dare and Go, Gentlemen, Halfbridled, Johar, Kotashaan, Malek, Phone Chatter, Phone Trick, Rock Hard Ten, Sandpit, The Tin Man and Siphon.
He was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame in 2001. Richard resides in Pasadena with wife, Randi. They have a daughter, Andrea and son, Gary who also trains in California.