Patience, Persistence Pays Off for Silentio
Gary Mandella hopes his patience and persistence is about to bear fruit. The 41-year-old trainer, son of Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella, has been working Silentio like clockwork for Saturday’s Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile since he won the Citation Handicap at Hollywood Park last Nov. 29.
Silentio drew post nine of 10 in the prestigious turf race, not necessarily an advantage, but Mandella preferred to see the glass as half full.
“It depends on how things shape up when the gates open,” said Mandella, who also lends his expertise as analyst on HRTV. “I like that he’ll load towards the end and not have to stand forever in the gate.
“I’ll just have to hope there’s enough speed in there, which on paper it looks like there is, that the field will kind of thin out getting to the first turn, and everybody will be able to get over and nobody gets hung out five-wide, which is my biggest concern.
“But I’ve got Bejarano. I’d rather have Bejarano in the nine hole than a lesser rider in the two hole.”
Meanwhile, Barry Abrams is looking forward to finally seeing Lakerville stretch out beyond 6 ½ furlongs on turf. The son of Unusual Heat has never finished worse than second in eight career starts, winning five times, all in turf sprints. Abrams also has Kent Desormeaux on Lakerville for the first time.
“I thought I’d go with a Hall of Famer,” Abrams said. “Lakerville is bred for a mile. I’ve been trying to stretch him out for two years now, and this is the first opportunity.”
The field for the Kilroe, which goes as race eight: Lochte, Orlando Bocachica, 8-1; Regally Ready, Mike Smith, 8-1; Optimizer, Luis Saez, 12-1; Suggestive Boy, Joe Talamo, 6-1; Za Approval, Joel Rosario, 3-1; Winning Prize, Corey Nakatani, 7-2; Horizontalyspeakin, Edwin Maldonado, 30-1; Tom’s Tribute, Gary Stevens, 10-1; Silentio, Rafael Bejarano, 7-2; and Lakerville, Kent Desormeaux, 8-1.
John Sadler, trainer of Horizontalyspeakin, could scratch. "The race looks awfully tough,” he said. Asked what could be next: “No specific race, but an easier race.”