It happened on September 18. Only 40 days ago.

 

Leandro Mora, longtime assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill was sitting at home watching television.

 

“All of a sudden I felt this trembling in my head, like somebody had hit me with a baseball bat,” Mora said here Tuesday morning. “The house was spinning and I couldn’t move. Not even to call 9-1-1. My girlfriend was there and she had to do it for me.”

 

Mora had suffered a stroke. A “minor” one (if there is such a thing) whose effects and aftereffects have not proven to be greatly debilitating for the 56-year-old native of Mexico who has been a key member of what has come to be known as Team O’Neill for 13 years.

 

“I was very lucky,” Mora said. “The neurologist couldn’t believe how quickly I got  over it.”

 

Taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina, Mora was released after a five-day stay and was soon back at the track. He suffered no paralysis or speech problems.

 

Mora operated the stable while O’Neill served a suspension during the inaugural Bing Crosby Season a year ago. He saddled five winners from 52 starters and had 15 more starters finish on the board in the 20-day meeting, tying for fourth in the trainer standings with Mark Casse and Peter Eurton.

 

When the 2015 Bing Crosby Season begins tomorrow, Mora will again be in charge of the Del Mar operation. He has three starters on opening day, among them Octofy in the $200,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies, and two more on Friday. He’ll send out Found Money in the $200,000  Golden State Juvenile on Friday.

 

O’Neill and other key team members are at Keeneland with a contingent of five runners in the 13 Breeders’ Cup Championship races on Friday and Saturday. Mora could have been there with them.

 

“I chose not to go,” he said. “I blame stress for one of the reasons I had the stroke and I’ve been to enough of the Breeders’  Cup and Triple Crown races which are  very stressful.

 

“I’d rather be at Del Mar.”

 

 

 

Smokey Image puts  his unbeaten (4-for-4) record on the line Friday in the featured $200,000 Golden State  Juvenile Stakes, a seven-furlong event for California-bred 2-year-olds.

 

Owned by Betty and Robert Irvin of Palisades and trained by Greg James, the Southern Image colt won the $150,000 I’m Smokin Stakes  here on September 4 in his last start to end a summer campaign begun in Northern California. In the I’m Smokin, Smokey Image prevailed by 4 ¼ lengths over fellow Juvenile entrant Found Money after a head-and-head battle through much of the six-furlong race. 

 

The field from the rail out:  Gio Mio (Rafael Bejarano, 8-1), Smokey Image (Juan Hernandez, 7-5), Defiant One (Felipe  Valdez, 30-1), Record Highs (Santiago Gonzalez, 8-1), Bully Pulpit (Tiago Pereira, 6-1), Scatastic (Fernando Perez, 20-1), Family Code (Alonso Quinonez, 5-1), Mana Strike (Leslie Mawing, 12-1), Found Money (Corey Nakatani, 6-1) and Swiss Minister (Alex Solis, 15-1).

 

 

 

Elektrum, winner of the Grade II John C. Mabee Stakes here in August and runner-up in last month’s Grade I Rodeo  Drive at Santa Anita, will run in Sunday’s Grade II $200,000 Goldikova Stakes after narrowly missing a berth in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

 

The 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of High Chaparral, owned by Hronis Racing and trained by John Sadler, was pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup event and scheduled to fly to Lexington, Ky., with other Santa Anita-based horses on Tuesday.

 

However, when post-positions were drawn on Monday, Elektrum was an also-eligible.

 

“So she didn’t get on the plane,” Sadler said Wednesday by telephone from Kentucky. “The Goldikova was always a back-up plan and she’s training very well.”

 

With Elektrum staying in Southern California, where she has raced six times since being imported from Europe,  Sadler will focus on two remaining Breeders’ Cup representatives, Stellar Wind in Friday’s $2 million Distaff and Hard Aces in Saturday’s $5 million  Classic.

 

Post position draw for the Goldikova was scheduled for late Wednesday morning. Among the probable entrants was Stormy Lucy, another Breeders’ Cup pre-entry who failed  to make the race.

 

 

 

Sharp Holiday, a daughter of Thorn Song trained by Brian Koriner, was scratched from the opening-day $200,000 Golden Stake Juvenile Fillies Stakes and will run in Friday’s third race instead.

 

“We opted for the easier spot, the better one for her,” Koriner said Wednesday morning.

 

Sharp Holiday drew the No. 1 post and was 20-1 on the morning line for the  seven-furlong Golden State. She’ll break from the No. 5 post in Friday’s  third race, a six-furlong optional claimer with a purse of $28,000, with morning line odds of 7-2.

 

Felipe Valdez has the mount.

 

The field for the Golden State Juvenile Fillies from the rail: :  Run For Retts (Martin Garcia, 20-1), Yodelsong (Alex Solis, 20-1), Obey (Tiago Pereira, 8-1), Dragon Flower (Santiago Gonzalez, 15-1),  Red Stich (Fernando Perez, 20-1), Pacific Heat (Joe Talamo, 9-2),  Khalaya (Ry Eikleberry, 20-1),  Octofy (Corey Nakatani, 15-1), Patriotic Diamond (Rafael Bejarano, 5-2), Sambamzajammin (Miguel Perez, 20-1), Halo Darlin (Alonso Quinonez, 20-1),  Forthenineteen (James Graham, 12-1) and Just Google Me (Edwin Maldonado, 3-1).

 

 

Contact: Dan Smith 858-792-4226/Hank Wesch 858-755-1141 ext. 3793