Mandella Again in ‘Diver Seat

It was Gentlemen’s track-record 1 1/8 miles in the 1996 Native Diver Handicap that brought him to prominence. In only his second U.S. start on dirt, Gentlemen beat another good horse, Dramatic Gold, by nine lengths in an electrifying performance.

In the latest running of the Native Diver, Puerto Madero didn’t run the race in a Gentlemen-like 1:45 1/5, and he didn’t win by nine lengths, but this aside he’s a very eligible candidate to follow in the deep hoofprints of the recently retired Gentlemen. As trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday at Hollywood Park, “We’ve got some big dreams for this horse.”

Mandella has made a habit of winning the Native Diver, but not to the point of boredom. Puerto Madero gave him win No. 6 in the stake, one more than Charlie Whittingham, and the last three for Mandella, in succession, have been with South American horses. After Gentlemen two years ago, Refinado Tom won the Native Diver for Mandella last year.

Gentlemen and Refinado Tom were Argentine-breds, whereas Puerto Madero is a nicely chiseled package from Chile. Johnny Jones, the owner of Walmac International in Lexington, Ky., sniffed out both Gentlemen and Puerto Madero and brought them to the U.S., with R.D. Hubbard, the chairman of Hollywood Park, buying into both horses. In February, Gentlemen will begin his stud career at Walmac.

Hubbard’s minority partner in Puerto Madero is Dwight Sutherland, who’s in the lumber business in Kansas City. They were also partners, with others, in Gentlemen, whose $3.6-million career ended ignominiously with a last-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, after a supplementary fee of $800,000 had been paid to get the horse into the race. Puerto Madero’s win Sunday, by 2 1/2 lengths over Musical Gambler in 1:48 2/5, was worth only $60,000, but it’s a start.

Kent Desormeaux rode the 7-10 favorite Puerto Madero, who made up six lengths in the stretch. Mandella said he was muttering unkind words about Desormeaux when he rushed the 4-year-old colt into contention going into the first turn, but upon review the trainer agreed with the rider’s tactics.

“I think you can race him wherever you want to be as long as the race tactics set up for him,” Desormeaux said. “Today we brought the tactics to the race instead of letting it come to him.”

Puerto Madero hadn’t run since finishing a poor sixth in the Pacific Classic four months ago. He suffered a minor back injury that day, but Mandella gave him all the time off for other reasons. Puerto Madero had butted heads twice with Skip Away, finishing second in the Massachusetts Handicap and the Hollywood Gold Cup, and the trainer wanted a fresh horse for 1999.

Mandella has also encamped on the Santa Anita Handicap, winning it the last two years with Siphon and Malek, and he’ll take aim at the $1-million race with Puerto Madero and Malek in ’99. Puerto Madero is likely to run next in the San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 7. Malek was headed for the San Pasqual Handicap on Jan. 10, until Mandella heard that Silver Charm might run. Some sort of a Plan B is likely.

Horse Racing Notes

Another California track chairman, Ed Allred of Los Alamitos, won a big race over the weekend when his 2-year-old gelding, Kingman Kid, captured the Los Alamitos Million Futurity on Saturday night. At $1,173,605, the Futurity was the richest race for any breed to be run in the state this year, and Kingman Kid, trained by Kelly Long and ridden by Joe Badilla, collected $458,242 after beating out Flash First by a nose in 19.78 for 400 yards. Sunset Dash ran third and favored Romeo Ryon was fourth. Allred, who was born in Kingman, Ariz., 62 years ago, thought Bubbas Bullet was his best chance to win the Futurity, but two weeks ago he was spooked by a car en route to the receiving barn for the Futurity Trial, strained a muscle and was scratched. Kingman Kid, who finished third in the Trial, had won two of four starts and earned $6,115 going into the Futurity. He was sidelined for almost six months this year after knee surgery, and Long had to persuade Allred to run him in the Trial. “She told me he was training extremely well,” Allred said, “and there’s no doubt she made a great choice. I usually don’t get overwhelmed, because I’ve won many stakes, but this one has me in shock.” . . . Richard Mandella’s other Native Diver Handicap winners were Menswear in 1983, Hopeful Word in 1986 and Best Pal in 1994. . . . Surachai is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the Dayjur Handicap as Hollwyood Park’s 31-day fall-winter meet ends today.