Windy Sands

Like an adrenaline junkie, or just a crack fiend, I came away from my interview with Greg Fox jonesing for more. So after a double Lagavulin I decided to track down and interview the big fish.

Papa Mandella.

Mr. Mandella was gracious and forthcoming with his time and answers and here is the interview, formatted to fit within the space allotted. We join the interview already in progress...

Mandella: O.k. let's back up a little bit...what's the name of that...?

Me: The Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance, we're a group of fans mostly but we have trainers, owners, vets and people like me with no qualifications whatsoever.

Mandella: (Chuckling)..o.k.

Me: Thanks for your time. How's Perfect Drift doing?

Mandella: Great.

Me: What is the plan for him?

Mandella: There is a small stake here at the end of Del Mar called the Windy Sands. A mile on the track. I'd like to shoot for the Pacific Classic but I'm a little disappointed that I've not gotten a better race out of him the last couple times. He looks like a three year old, full of shit...so you got to be a little more conservative and aim for the Windy Sands. He is very healthy and very sound.

Me: What is your opinion on synthetics? Are they a knee jerk reaction?

Mandella: I don't know that they need to be everywhere. I think they are very good. There is a lot to be said, good and bad. There have been some terrible mistakes made putting them in in California particularly. We don't need to talk about that, you know how screwed up that was. Let's hope that the new mix will be as good as it seemed to be the last half of the Santa Anita meet, so hopefully it will be even better after having a chance to do it right. But my take in general is that California has suffered through dirt racetracks that did not come up to the standard needed for several years and the option of finding sandy loam of high enough quality good enough to make has been limited. At least there's a future in my mind to a synthetic track even though we've made mistakes and gone through some tough times, they haven't been as bad as the times we've had with the dirt. In some cases we haven't been as smart going forward as some people would like but at least there's a light at the end of it. We weren't getting better, it was only getting worse. The most important detriment was the inability to find a good quality sandy loam.

Me: I'm in Arlington and I hear a lot of anecdotal evidence of horses running sore and sustaining soft tissue injuries. Trainers are just not very happy with the surface. Do you have similar experiences?

Mandella: You find some that have problems and some that don't which is pretty much how life goes on the race track. You get into a time when they have a lot of problems and a time when they don't. I don't know why it goes in streaks. But in general I'd say things are better than they were. Again I think horsemen are on the impatient side, they want immediate results. I can't understand why that would be but it has always been that way. Like I say at least you can imagine that you might improve the game with the new science. Churchill and Fair Grounds have natural soils available that make really good race tracks. Maybe they'll never need it.

Me: Do you think the Breeder's Cup jumped the proverbial gun in holding the Cup there two years in a row? How do you think it will turn out, especially this first meet in the fall?

Mandella: I think it's going to turn out very well.

Me: What is your opinion on the space being filled by bloggers, such as myself, in the industry in place of the departing print media?

Mandella: I have no opinion. I have a girl that tells me what my e-mails are. I don't read bloggers but any form of communication is good and it's very disappointing that newspapers are dropping their coverage and scary for the industry.

Me: How do you think the NTRA has done its job in the last ten years? Are we better off? Do you think there is need of a commissioner?

Mandella: Personally I don't think there is any one person that has the combination of skills you would need to be in charge of this industry. Anyone you could think of would have a bias of some type. It's so easy to get prejudiced. That's what keeps us all in this business. My horse is better than yours. I think there should be a well balanced group of officials that are re-elected every few years. Mostly owners and balanced with some track executives and trainers but mostly owners that own this business. You rotate them so there is no hierarchy of control.

Me: Last question. With the changes proposed by the various committees where do you think racing will be in twenty years?

Mandella: (long pause)...you know I thought I knew that answer most of my life. The last couple of years...the last several years I've said we are going through a correction. Some bad times, things often need to be worse before they can get better but I am amazed how much worse they can get. My criticism is a lot of the people that make this game happen, my colleague trainers and jockeys seem to have no respect for the game and that's the biggest concern in my eye. They know that. I do think the game will survive and I hope that it will be better with the correction. Sometimes a body has to...have you ever smelled a dead animal?

Me:(thinking..'I showered this morning') Unfortunately yes.

Mandella: Sometimes it takes a while for it to stink real bad and then you find it in the cellar somewhere. Let me make one statement before I send you off with the wrong opinion. The majority of people in this industry: trainers, grooms, assistant trainers are very hard working, honest, good people. The people I'm criticizing, in my mind, make up a small part of this game but they make a big stink. Most people here are very good and honest but there is another group that seems to flip the finger at authority. O.K?

Me:Understood. Thank you kindly for your time.