Winning Ponies

Richard E. Mandella (born November 5, 1950 in Altadena, California) is a Thoroughbred horse trainer and a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. Mandella's father, a blacksmith, introduced him to horses at an early age and while still in high school, he began starting and training horses at a nearby ranch. He spent a year in New York as assistant to Lefty Nickerson and then took a job with Texas horseman Roger Braugh in 1974. Two years later, Richard Mandella returned to California and opened his own stable. His wins began almost immediately with Bad 'n Big and continued with Phone Trick, Dare and Go, and Pleasantly Perfect. Between 1996 and 1998 Mandella won six straight million dollar races in Southern California with Dare and Go, Siphon, Gentlemen and Malek. Mandella has seen six of his horses run in the Kentucky Derby. Mandella was inducted in the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 2001 and in 2003 he had four winners in the Breeders' Cup: Pleasantly Perfect, Johar, Halfbridled, and Action This Day. In 2006