Jolie Olimpica latest in line for Mandella

Graded stakes winners on Saturday at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park came from everywhere, and none was more impressive than an unbeaten Group 1 winner from Brazil who scored a smashing victory in her U.S. debut.

Jolie Olimpica was well publicized coming into the Grade 3 Las Cienegas, a 5 1/2-furlong turf race won previously by Mizdirection and Heat Haze at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Is it too soon to compare Jolie Olimpica to those horses? Not after what she did Saturday at Santa Anita.

“Pretty impressed, you had to be,” trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday from Florida. “She showed us right off that she was plenty quick enough to do what you want.”

Mandella would know. Jolie Olimpica was the 26th import from South America he has trained to win a graded race in the United States. She did it with effortless ease. Jolie Olimpica pressed the pace, coasted home ridden out in 1:01.00, and galloped out super. The time is a course record, although Santa Anita has run only 39 turf races at the distance. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98.

Though the Las Cienegas was the shortest graded race Saturday, it produced the most meaningful result. None of the other Grade 3 races Saturday included as much “wow.”

Queen Bee to You won a stretch-long battle with Der Lu to win a thrilling, but low-rated, La Canada for dirt-route fillies and mares at Santa Anita. She earned a mere 86 Beyer. In her defense, Queen Bee to You prefers seven furlongs around one turn. Next up is the seven-furlong Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes on Feb. 15.

But is Queen Bee to You fast enough? Not if the Santa Monica includes the one-two finishers from the highly rated Kalookan Queen Stakes on Sunday. Mother Mother earned a 95 Beyer winning the sprint; runner-up Lady Ninja earned 92. Both are significantly faster than Queen Bee to You.

Likewise, neither turf route stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park seemed important. Magic Star, debut maiden winner and unplaced in a first-level allowance, moved into a Grade 3 for her third start and won the Marshua’s River for fillies and mares. It was a reminder to handicappers – the “class” factor is less relevant than it once was.

Saturday’s card at Gulfstream also included the Tropical Turf, and puzzling support for A Thread of Blue. First time facing older, void of any pace or speed advantage, he finished fourth as the favorite. Tusk, claimed for $32,000 in fall, won the Tropical Turf for Saffie Joseph Jr., Gulfstream’s hottest trainer.

Mandella also is at Gulfstream, where he is preparing Omaha Beach for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25. Mandella was watching televised coverage of the Las Cienegas when Jolie Olimpica got stirred up in the Santa Anita waking ring. It was almost expected.

“She came with a history of being a little tense,” Mandella said. “We schooled her a lot before the race, and we’ll continue to school her. She’s a little testy at times.”

Jolie Olimpica was acquired after her third blowout last season in a Group 1 in Brazil. John Fulton, who negotiated the deal for owner Rick Porter, previously purchased Brazil Group 1 winner Bal a Bali, whom Mandella trained for Porter and Siena Farm.

More than 1,100 horses were imported to the United States from South America between 2009 and 2018, according to The Jockey Club. Mandella has been doing it since the early 1990s.

Jolie Olimpica joins a long list of South American imports that have won a U.S. graded stakes for Mandella – Sacramentada, Leger Cat, Memo, Romarin, Sandpit, Siphon, Refinado Tom, Gentlemen, Malek, Puerto Madero, Virginie, Out of Mind, Big Ten, Reciclada, Lazy Lode, Cagney, Paga, Redattore, Noches de Rosa, Salt Champ, Matto Mondo, Indy Point, Catch a Flight, Baruta, Bal a Bali, and Jolie Olimpica.

Although 5 1/2 furlongs was the shortest distance Jolie Olimpica has raced, Mandella noted her three starts in Brazil were at one turn. He would rather go too short than too long with a comeback import.

“I think you can make a mistake of asking to go too far the first time,” he said. “I think you’re better off to [run] short and finish, even if you need to go farther.”

Following the Las Cienegas, jockey Mike Smith said Jolie Olimpica “galloped out well within herself. She wasn’t winded at all.”

“She should get a mile for sure,” he said.

The next filly-mare turf race Jolie Olimpica could enter is the Grade 2 Buena Vista on Feb. 22 at one mile, against American Oaks winner Lady Prancealot. Mandella, however, did not speculate on the next start for Jolie Olimpica.

“She’s not a real big filly,” he said. “Even though she won easy, she gave a lot.”

What she did was give Mandella and Porter something to look forward to after Omaha Beach makes his final start in the Pegasus. Gary Mandella, son of Richard Mandella, will look after the California stable until his father returns from Florida.

And when will that be? “Not until the party’s over,” Richard Mandella said Sunday.

In the case of Jolie Olimpica, the party is just getting started.