Sandpit Waits, Wins No. 13 in San Marcos

Someone approached trainer Richard Mandella the other day and asked Sandpit’s age.

Mandella is best with the put-down at his own expense. “Sandpit’s eight,” he said. “Hard to believe, isn’t it? We’ve had him long enough that I ought to know how to train him by now.”

Sandpit earned $71,000 in Brazil early in his career, and he has banked more than $2.6 million since arriving in California in 1994, so Mandella must be doing something right. At Santa Anita on Monday, Sandpit even won a race with Mandella on vacation in the Bahamas. It took the 8-year-old grass phenomenon 2:00 3/5 to run 1 1/4 miles, and then Gary Mandella, the trainer’s son, and jockey Corey Nakatani waited about 10 minutes before the three stewards certified his 1 1/2-length victory in the $159,000 San Marcos Handicap.

Sandpit’s 13th win in 32 starts came after a five-month layoff, and was against horses that have run right through the fall and had more reason to be at the top of their game. Marlin, the Hollywood Derby winner, went off the 3-2 favorite on a wet course listed as good, and he had the stewards rerunning the tape of the stretch. Finally, they decided Marlin and his jockey, Gary Stevens, had tried to squeeze through a hole that wasn’t there.

After Marlin was nosed out by River Deep for second place, Stevens claimed foul against Sandpit, but the stewards, deciding that Marlin was the culprit, disqualified him from third to fifth place for bumping Bedivere, the fifth-place finisher, and almost putting him over the rail. Stevens said Sandpit had forced his mount into Bedivere’s path.

He walked off the track in a rage, but was more composed in the jockeys’ room afterward.

“They viewed it differently than I did,” he said. “They took the wrong number down. Corey was riding more than one horse, and I got hammered twice on the turn. Then in the stretch, he moved way out, but when I tried to run up in there, he just started angling over again. I had Rene Douglas [astride Bedivere] inside me, and there was no place to go.”

Nakatani had a big day, with four winners, and also won the other stake by riding Belle’s Flag to a two-length win over Housa Dancer in the $132,650 El Encino for 4-year-old fillies.

Nakatani didn’t expect the stewards to disqualify Sandpit.

“There wasn’t room for the other horse,” he said. “I kept my horse running straight as well as I could. It was a tough decision. The head-on [view of the race] made it look like I came over a lot more than I did.”

Shanawi was moved up to third place and Bedivere, who battled Sandpit for the lead most of the way, was given fourth.

“I was lucky I didn’t go over the fence,” Douglas said. “We hit the rail hard.”

Sandpit, the second choice and the high weight at 123 pounds, paid $6. He hadn’t run since straining a ligament during a third-place finish in the Arlington Million on Aug. 25. His last win was in the Caesars International Handicap at Atlantic City in June.

Sandpit’s owner, Rio de Janeiro industrialist Sergio Menezes, has resisted running his horse in the Breeders’ Cup Turf because it would take $400,000 to supplement him into the race. Instead, Sandpit’s year-end appearances have come in the Japan Cup, and he has run poorly in Tokyo. Sandpit suffers from a minor breathing problem that has been aggravated by the rise in the Japan Cup course.

Belle’s Flag, Nakatani’s first stakes win Monday, used the El Encino to notch her fifth win in seven starts. Listening, the 13-10 favorite, finished third in the sloppy going.

Horse Racing Notes

Sandpit is the oldest winner of the San Marcos since Silveyville won the stake as an 8-year-old in 1986. The only 9-year-old to win the race has been Desert Chief III, in 1965. . . . Thisnearlywasmine, winner of Saturday’s San Miguel Stakes, underwent surgery Sunday for breaks in both front ankles. . . . Alamocitos, a $320,000 yearling, made a strong late run to break his maiden on his fifth try. . . . In Excessive Bull, one of the West Coast’s top 3-year-olds, has been slowed by an ulcerated throat infection. . . . Trainer Wayne Lukas said he’s going to keep Marlin on grass. . . . “I’m glad I had five pairs of goggles,” said Chris McCarron, who rode Listening. “The track [wasn’t] very deep, but there’s a lot of stuff coming back. I think she possibly got a little tired.” . . . Trainer Mel Stute saddled successive winners. . . . Wednesday is a dark day and the Santa Anita meet continues on Thursday.