ARCADIA, Calif.— Richard Mandella has a number of surprise victories on his Hall of Fame resume, most notably Dare and Go’s 40-1 upset of Cigar in the 1996 Pacific Classic, ending his remarkable 16-race winning streak.
The Hall of Fame trainer has entered the maiden Ice Dancing in Saturday’s Grade II Chandelier Stakes in hopes of turning the tables on a promising field of two-year-old fillies.
A daughter of the Tapit stallion Frosted, Ice Dancing was third in her debut race on Aug. 14 and third again in the Grade I Del Mar Debutante Sept. 10, both races sprints won by Chandelier entrant And Tell Me Nolies trained by Peter Miller.
At a mile and one-sixteenth, the Chandelier is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge Race giving the nominated winner automatic entry into Keeneland’s Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4.
The Chandelier awards $120,000 to the winner, plus 10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.
Ice Dancing did not have the smoothest of trips in her two starts, going wide and getting off slowly in her debut race.
Bob Baffert, meanwhile, sends out Home Cooking and Huntingcoco in quest of his 13th win in the Chandelier. “They’re both fast,” he said, “but the two-turn test is very important.” None of the seven entrants has ever raced beyond seven furlongs.
The Chandelier, race six: Naughty Lottie, Ryan Curatolo, 12-1; Ice Dancing, Umberto Rispoli, 10-1; Home Cooking, Mike Smith, 3-1; Huntingcoco, Edwin Maldonado, 7-2; And Tell Me Nolies, Ramon Vazquez, 3-1; Uncontrollable, Juan Hernandez, 15-1; and Justique, Victor Espinoza, 2-1.
Santa Anita Park Press Release
Photo: Ice Dancing (Ernie Belmonte)
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