HOLLYWOOD PARK STABLE NOTES

Sunday, July 9, 1995

By Vince Bruun & Ed Golden

A healthy and happy horse is a winning horse, and Sierra Thoroughbreds' Sandpit
fits comfortably into that category as he prepares for the $250,000-added Caesars Palace Turf Championship at Hollywood Park on July 22.: "He's been a piece of cake since I got him," trainer Richard Mandella
said of the Brazilian import who won the $500,000-guaranteed Caesars International Handicap at Atlantic City Race Course on June 22.: A victory in the Grade II Turf Championship would earn Sandpit $750,000 for
successfully completing an East-to-West sweep in the Caesars Palace Turf Championship. The prize includes a $312,500 bonus, which Caesars Palace and Caesars World have offered the owner of the horse completing the coast-to-coast double.: "He's done everything well," Mandella added of Sandpit, already a
multiple Grade I winner in the United States. "He's a healthy, sound horse with a great personality. That will carry a horse a long ways. But it goes beyond that. He's a good eater, good doer, he doesn't have to have everything exactly his way. He can adjust, and it shows the way he acclimated here. ": Nominations to the Caesars Palace Turf Championship closed Saturday with 11,
headed by Sandpit and Golden Gate Handicap winner Special Price.: "Mr. Menezes (Sergio Coutinho de Menezes, who owns Sierra
Thoroughbreds) called me and introduced himself and asked if I would take the horse," Mandella related. "I said, yes.': "Sandpit had been very good in Brazil and had run in the Carlos Pelligrini,
the best race in South America, and finished fourth, beaten like 2 1/2 lengths. That indicated to me that he was a good horse. To be fourth in that race, you've got to be pretty good.": The 54th running of the 1 1/2-mile event will be its first as the Caesars Palace Turf
Championship, which was inaugurated as the Aloha Handicap in 1938 and known as the Sunset Handicap from 1940 to 1994.: The complete list of nominations: Sandpit, Special Price, Celtic Arms, Urgent
Request, Bluegrass Prince, Sans Ecocide, Liyoun, Jahafil, Talloires, Twin Bet and Misty Valley.
SIEGELS MOVE HORSES TO OTHER TRAINERS: Owners Jan, Mace and Samantha Siegel have taken 48 horses from their long-time trainer
Brian Mayberry and put them in the hands of four other conditioners --
Randy Bradshaw, Don Devine, Ron Ellis and Dan Hendricks.: Samantha Siegel said the move would be official as of "the end of the
(Sunday) morning," but chose not to elaborate on the reason for the change. Mayberry also declined comment as to who initiated the change and why.: Mayberry became primary trainer for the Siegels, of Beverly Hills, in 1977. The
Siegels have been among North America's leading buyers at yearling sales since 1988, purchasing 118 yearlings for more than $6.1 million through 1992.: Among their more than 20 stakes winners were Stormy But Valid, Fluttery
Dansuer, Edgy Diplomat, Tasteful T.V., Doyouseewhatisee, Urbane, Noassemblyrequired, Cold N Calculating, and the late Ramblin Guy, who won the 1993 Hollywood Juvenile Championship.: Steward George Slender said the 48 horses would be distributed as follows: five
to Hendricks, seven each to Ellis and Bradshaw, and 29 to Devine, who had been an assistant to Mayberry for more than 20 years.: Ellis and Hendricks were scheduled to enter two horses each for their new owners
on Wednesday's card at Hollywood Park.
GERI SIDELINED WITH BRUISED HIP: Allen E. Paulson's promising 3-year-old Geri sustained a bruised hip while winning
a $43,000 allowance race on June 17 and will miss the $500,000 Swaps Stakes on July 23.: "He banged himself coming out of the gate and bruised himself pretty
good," said Paddy Gallagher, chief assistant to trainer Bill Shoemaker. "He's acting good, though, and he's jogging and galloping. He should be ready to race at Del Mar.": Despite the mishap at the gate, Geri rallied from 10 lengths off the pace to win the
1 1/16-mile race in 1:43 2/5. Overall, the homebred by Theatrical has raced four times with two wins, one second, one third and $58,050 in earnings. In three of the four races, the Daily Racing Form chart footnotes notate Geri as breaking slowly.
PINCAY TO RIDE DAZZLING FALLS IN GRADE II SWAPS: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. has secured the mount on Dazzling Falls for the Grade II
Swaps Stakes on July 23, agent Bob Meldahl said.: Pincay had been slated to ride Geri in the nine-furlong Swaps, but the Hall of
Famer became open when Geri was declared out of the race with a bruised hip. Pincay, seventh in the standings with 36 wins through Saturday, has ridden three Swaps winners -- Valdez (1979), Noble Nashua (1981) and Devoted Brass (1993).: A 3-year-old Nebraska-bred by Taylor's Falls, Dazzling Falls has won eight of 16
starts and $855,532. In his most recent race, the Grade II Ohio Derby at Thistledown on June 17, Dazzling Falls finished second beaten a neck by Petionville. Dazzling Falls is owned by Chateau Ridge Farm and Donald Kroeger, and trained by Chuck Turco.
VAN BERG GETS THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE . . . ON A BICYCLE: It took 59 years and one month to happen, but Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg
finally has a bicycle of his own.: And, oh, what a bicycle it is -- an Iron Horse USA MT 100R, custom-built to
support Van Berg's substantial frame.: The bicycle was presented to Van Berg by Thomas Mohler at a brief ceremony
Sunday outside the Van Berg barn.: Mohler, who met Van Berg at the races a few months ago, said nobody should go
through life having never owned a bike.: "One day we were talking and Jack was relating how he never had a bicycle," Mohler
said. "His father (the late Marion Van Berg) let him have as many horses as he wanted, but no bikes. He didn't want (a bicycle) interfering with his horsemanship.: "So I just figured it was time he finally had a bike of his own."
Mohler didn't disclose how much the bicycle cost, but he did reveal it as "somewhere between $500 and $2,000.": Van Berg, a fixture on horseback (at a distance, he looks like John Wayne), obviously
isn't as comfortable on two wheels as he is atop four legs.: "Where's the gears? Don't I get a booklet with this thing," Van Berg said, mounting
the bike.: Alas, the 6-3, 250-pound Van Berg found his balance and took his new toy out for a
spin . . . spurs and all.
HAROLD A. RAMSEY PASSES AWAY: Harold A. Ramsey, a former Operations Manager for the Hollywood Turf Club, passed away
quietly at home on July 4. Ramsey worked in the horse racing industry for 40 years.: Ramsey leaves behind his daughter, Patricia Flannigan; sons Kenneth Ramsey and Robert
Ramsey; five grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.: Mass of Christian Burial will be held privately at Holy Cross Cemetery on Monday.
: FINISH LINES: Jockeys Corey Black and Matt Garcia were fined $100 each for engaging in fisticuffs in
the jockeys' room following Friday night's ninth race. The altercation resulted due to a dispute over position at the 3/16 pole. Garcia finished eighth on 57-1 shot Golden Trait, while Black was 10th and last on 19-10 favorite Barbarian . . . Tom Van Berg, son of Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg, is heading up the barn's operation at AKsarben, with a string of 37 head . . . David Hofmans reports Ridder Thoroughbreds' Raw Gold came out of her Landaluce victory "really good. She ate up everything and couldn't be happier." Hofmans said the $100,000-added Sorrento Stakes (Gr. II) at Del Mar on Aug. 9 could be the next race for the diminutive daughter of Rahy . . . Gary Stevens will be at Belmont Park next Saturday to ride the lightning-quick Abaginone for Hollywood Park's leading trainer Sandy Shulman in the $100,000-added True North Handicap (Gr. II) at six furlongs. Shulman had opened a 22-20 lead over Bobby Frankel in the trainers' standings, but Shulman, beaten out for the 1994 title by Ron McAnally on closing day, refused to make any predictions. "I'm not going to say anything about it until it's all over. I'll let Frankel talk about it," Shulman said.. . . Godolphin Stable's Halling won Saturday's Sandown Stakes in England, with San Juan Capistrano Handicap winner Red Bishop, also owned by Godolphin, finishing third in 1 1/4-mile turf race. Singspiel was second and Environment Fried fourth, followed by Eltish, Muhtarram, Prince of Andros and Tryphosa . . . Chris Speckert reported from Santa Anita that neither Shinnecock Hills nor Misty Valley would participate in the Swaps Stakes or the Caesars Palace Turf Championship.

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