Who's That in the Mirror?

Let’s see, what’s worse? Is it when you get bad advice, act on it and have things go wrong? Or is it when you get good advice, don’t act on it and watch things go past you?

Naw, here’s one that outdoes either of those two: It’s when you give yourself good advice, then ignore it and have it come around and bite you in the you-know-where.

If you’re looking for that kind of dummy, check me checking myself out in the mirror.

Several blogs back in this very location yours truly put down words to the effect that Richard Mandella -- Hall of Famer, wonderful conditioner, you-can-train-my-horses-anytime guy – was an iffy proposition if you were thinking Derby. Just too good to his horses, was the basic idea; not the kind to push through possible touchy situations to keep one on the oh-so-hard Derby Trail. Then, too, there was the realization that he was having to work in an iffy environment out here on the Left Coast this winter/spring with training time and training conditions proving less than reliable.

Good advice, dude. Sometimes you surprise yourself with how smart you can be.

So, of course, then where does yours truly go when he’s told he has to be an “expert” and pick a couple of trainers as part of being a Derby “pro” in the Road to the Roses contest. Let’s see, the “pro’s” thinking went like this: take Mott, looks like he’s got a live stable this year. Good show. Now, who is going to be your second? Maybe Zito, who has a bunch, or maybe Mandella, whose got a couple of very live ones? Zito? Mandella? Zito? Mandella?

Ah, you know which way it happened.

Richard Mandella is one of my favorite folks in all of racing and my “pro” move was to vote with my heart instead of my head. It was to go against the good advice that was right there before me; the very advice typed with my own two hands. And now this “pro” is down to Mott and hoping the pack doesn’t pull too far away from him too soon.

First Richard lost his nice hide Crown of Thorns. Little fracture was the word. Little. Right. Might have had something to do with the racetrack, but those things are sometimes hard to know. Oh, well, what are you going to do? There was hope still, though; good hope with a nifty number named Into Mischief.

Alas, you can scratch that one, too. Problem with a foot. His scheduled run in the San Felipe March 15 has been put on hold – the permanent kind. And without that journey under his belt, the Derby all but disappears into the night like a werewolf in a London fog. If you still want to hold out a chance with him, think Preakness. Mandella might go there, but only if his colt is right. And he gets a chance to put some bottom in him.

Part of the thinking, it would seem, in this muddled brain was the thought of getting to hang with Sir Richard in Kentucky as the Derby drew close. Would have put the bid in to work with him as part of the Derby Notes Team gig that comes my way. He’s got one of the driest wits you’ll ever come across and a way of looking at everyday things that can bring a smile quicker than a sprinter popping the gate. But not this year. Not going to happen. We’ll miss ya, buddy.

So it’s a drive up to Santa Anita Saturday for a nice day of racing. If Mr. Mandella is seen, condolences will be offered. But the focus of the day will shift to a look at the horse my (here’s a stretch) logical mind says is the Bull Goose of the western crop right now, the one that was the subject of a blog yours truly typed with those same two hands just a bit back. That would be El Gato Malo in the Sham. Beat him if you can, boys. And good luck.

And if the wickets call when the Sham looms up, lordalmighty you’d better listen to yourself this time, son.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice and the 2008 Derby Trail Dummy Achievement Award awaits.