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MANDELLA MIXED ON THE MATTER OF CIGAR'S ABSENCE
In 15 straight victories, only one horse has come close to upsetting the Matchless Cigar -- Burt Bacharach's Soul of the Matter, who had his nose in front in the stretch before Cigar came again to win by a half-length.

That was in the Dubai World Cup, when both horses carried 124 pounds.

Before Cigar came down with an injury to his right front foot, Cigar and Soul of the Matter were on a collision course again in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 30.

Soul of the Matter's trainer, Richard Mandella, offered a realistic reaction to Cigar's almost certain defection.

"It's my job as a trainer to make winners," he said, "and it's a lot easier to make them win without Cigar than it is with him. As a trainer, it would be a relief if he didn't come. As a spectator and a fan, which I am also, it would be a disappointment."

And, as racing secretary Martin Panza and his boys ponder the weights which will be announced June 23, everyone has an opinion, including Mandella.

But he's not talking.

"I don't want to say and commit myself," Mandella said. "You say something, then you wish you hadn't. But the horse is doing great."

Mandella, who has trained a Horse of the Year (Kotashaan, 1993) in a career that is leading him to the Hall of Fame, realizes a victory over Cigar would have embellished his credentials immeasurably.

"It would have meant a lot," admitted Mandella, never one to blow his own horn. "That's what we all work for. You get up every day of the week at 4 o'clock in the morning. You give your life to it, so when you finally get lucky enough to have a horse good enough for a challenge like this would have been, the excitement comes with it."

It was no shock to Mandella that Soul of the Matter came so close to defeating Cigar.

"My horse is always eligible to beat anybody. He's a really good horse. Anytime he hasn't run his best races, we've generally found out reasons why -- his feet, or whatever -- so he's never let us down and he's just a true class horse.

"Cigar is a champ. He's really great. But Soul of the Matter is the kind of horse that you can never discount."

And how does a philosophic fellow such as Mandella put Cigar's accomplishments in perspective, even while he's still competing?

"It's what builds racing. We're lucky enough that he's staying around, running enough that people get to know his name, and that's good, because too many of them come and go, here today, gone tomorrow, and nobody ever really gets attached to them.

"But Cigar is one of those great horses, and sound enough, thanks to the great job Billy (Mott) does with him, that he's stayed around and stayed in great form.

"The people riding that train jump on and ride him as far as they can."


GOLDEN PICKS

CALL NOW -- Quality filly made herself at home in first turf start, should continue on winning ways, especially against paceless cast.

MANE MISS -- Another McCaffery-Toffan Production trained by Paco Gonzalez, she may not be as good as their other 2-year-old sensation, A.P. Assay, but this filly has a future, too.

SLEWS ROYAL SON -- A few cuts below the top 3-year-olds, but win machine from the Barry Abrams barn should continue to add to his victory total if properly placed.

TOWER FULL -- Had very eventful trip going 5 1/2 furlongs on grass, wide most of the way but still finished a game fourth. Rates another chance at $62,500 level.


THE HOMESTRETCH: Craig Lewis, owner/trainer of Larry The Legend, supervised the colt's first breeze in more than a year at Santa Anita last Thursday. The $2,500 bankruptcy sale purchase went three furlongs in :37, handily, under Joy Scott, in his first drill since before he won the Santa Anita Derby in April of 1995. "I'll probably work him again in six days," said Lewis, who was asked why he decided on Scott to work the 4-year-old. "She's very good at breezing," Lewis said. "The horse knows what to do. She was just a passenger and that's what I wanted." . . . Eoin Harty, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, never thought he'd wind up so close to Hollywood when he left his native The Curragh in Ireland, but his sister, Marie, got a first-hand taste of Tinseltown. A veterinarian, Marie was responsible for care and treatment of the horses during the shooting of Academy Award-winning movie "Braveheart," which was filmed in part at The Curragh . . . Gary Stevens was scheduled to undergo rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder Wednesday. The 33-year-old jockey could be out the rest of the year. Gary's absence left Soul of the Matter without a rider for the Gold Cup, but Dick Mandella said he was "studying the situation" and was expected to announce a replacement shortly . . . Trainer Bill Spawr has two Hollywood Park programs from December, 1944, and a menu from the Hollywood Park Turf Club. The price for steak and eggs? One dollar. Lobster? Two bucks. Have times changed or what? . . . First reaction to the Clippers' rejected plan to move from Los Angeles to Anaheim: It ain't far enough.

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