A Window of Opportunity

Trainer Richard Mandella usually stables his horses at Gene Cilio’s barn when he ships into Arlington Park. But Mandella had a special request for The Tin Man, a 4-year-old gelding who will arrive in suburban Chicago on Tuesday to make final preparations for his appearance Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Mandella needed a window.

“Yes, a window,� Mandella said. “The Tin Man likes to be able to look over at the horse in the next stall. It helps him relax.�

Cilio hired a carpenter at Arlington and told Mandella that The Tin Man would have his window by the time he gets there.

Clockers caught The Tin Man in :59 4/5 Sunday as he worked five furlongs on dirt at Santa Anita.

“It was a little quicker than I wanted,� Mandella said. “But it’s still a good sign.�

Although The Tin Man has won two of his last three starts, including the Hirsch Memorial at Santa Anita on Oct. 6, he will be a longshot for the $2-million Turf, which drew only nine horses, its smallest field since 1986. The Europeans High Chaparral and Golan are expected to be the favorites.

The Tin Man will be ridden by Mike Smith, who has ridden eight Breeders’ Cup winners and with six mounts Saturday could have a big day. Smith’s other assignments are Came Home (Classic), Azeri (Distaff), Vindication (Juvenile), Composure (Juvenile Fillies) and Kalookan Queen (Sprint).

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Aidan O’Brien, who trains High Chaparral, was undecided about Tomahawk, Ontario and Marino Marini running back in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile after they finished second, sixth and seventh Saturday in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes in Newmarket, England. Tout Seul, a 25-1 shot, won the race.

O’Brien definitely plans to run Hold That Tiger and Van Nistelrooy in the Juvenile, which he won last year with Johannesburg. Marino Marini and Ontario are on the also-eligible list and would need scratches in order to draw in. Tomahawk, a $2.5-million Seattle Slew yearling, is assured a spot if O’Brien decides to run him.

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Lido Palace, withheld from the Breeders’ Cup Classic because of an $800,000 supplementary fee that was needed to make him eligible, won an allowance race by a half-length at Belmont Park.... Puxa Saco, making her first start outside of Florida, was a one-length winner of the $81,600 Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita.... The breakdown of a transformer resulted in a power outage at Hollywood Park, where simulcast betting on the races at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos was canceled.