ARCADIA, Calif. - At 73, Richard Mandella was the second-oldest member of the 20 leading trainers at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that ended on Sunday. Only Hector Palma, who turns 87 on July 4, can claim greater seniority. “It surprises me I’m still here at my age,” Mandella said in his stable office at Santa Anita on Sunday. “A lot of older trainers are forgotten about.” Mandella reflected on that statement for a moment before continuing. “I guess I’m not that old yet.” Regardless of age, Mandella’s stable has a formidable presence in Southern California this year. Linda’s Gift’s victory in Saturday’s Possibly Perfect Stakes for fillies and mares was Mandella’s eighth stakes win of 2024, followed a day later by stakes win No. 9 in Sunday’s San Juan Capistrano Stakes by Planetario. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Last year, Mandella won 18 stakes after 16 such victories in 2021, but only seven in 2022. The forthcoming Del Mar meeting, which runs from July 20 to Sept. 8, will provide ample opportunity to boost the current year statistics. Mandella, inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 2001, has nearly a dozen stakes candidates, aside from juveniles who may develop rapidly in coming months. Beginning on the opening day, Mandella will be active. On July 20, Alluring and Rascality, stakes-placed on turf at Santa Anita earlier this spring, are expected to start in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf, a prep for the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 17. On July 21, the stakes winners Goliad and Sumter are likely to run in the $100,000 Wickerr Stakes at a mile on turf, which may lead to appearances in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 31. Subsanador, fourth of seven in the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup in his debut for Mandella, is a probable runner for the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 27, the track’s leading prep for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 31. Mandella rated Subsanador’s performance in the Gold Cup as a disappointment. “It wasn’t as good as I thought it should be,” Mandella said. The Gold Cup was Subsanador’s first start since he finished second by a head in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles in March. Subsanador was sold privately after the Big Cap and transferred from John Sadler to Mandella. On the same day as the Pacific Classic, Planetario may run in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on turf. Salesman, winner of the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance at 1 5/8 miles at Santa Anita last November, but last of seven in the Big Cap, is an intended runner in the Grade 3 Cougar II Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on dirt on July 25. Among fillies and mares, Coffee in Bed, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes in April and second in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes on May 26, is on course for the meeting’s leading race for older females, the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Aug. 3. Ruby Nell, a four-time stakes winner since October, is likely to start in the Grade 3 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf on Aug. 10. Linda’s Gift has the $100,000 CTT and TOC Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on turf on Aug. 16 as a goal. The Possibly Perfect was Linda’s Gift’s fourth stakes win in her last five starts, all at distances ranging from 1 1/4 miles to 1 1/2 miles on turf. “She’s turned into a helluva filly,” Mandella said. “I’m happy to see it.” The meeting will be closer to its conclusion before some of Mandella’s runners make their first appearances. Big City Lights, third in the Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes on June 1, will have his next start in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs on Aug. 24. “We’ll take a little time with him,” he said. Plans are uncertain for Tamara, the 3-year-old filly who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last September but has not raced since she finished seventh as the 4-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita last November. Mandella said earlier this month that he was unsatisfied with her training. She has not had a workout since May 25. “We’re trying to get her lined out with her training,” Mandella said. Tamara is by Bolt d’Oro and out of Beholder, a four-time champion and Hall of Fame mare that Mandella trained. Mandella won the Pacific Classic in 2015 with Beholder, the year his stable won a personal-best five stakes at Del Mar. The record could be challenged this season, with a successful summer and a return to the venue this fall when the Breeders’ Cup will be run there on Nov. 1-2. The depth of the stable’s stakes runners has been a delight for Mandella. “When I was younger, I’d say that when I got older, I’d take time off,” he said. “I’d take a year off and see the world and relax and come back - or not, depending on whether there was business.” He is not going anywhere. “The horses have been so good,” he said. “I can’t do it. Don’t want to do it.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.