Trainer Mike Mitchell, an iconic and dominant figure on the Southern
California racing landscape for nearly 40 years, passed away Tuesday, at his
home in Monrovia, California, following a lengthy battle with brain cancer at
age 66.
Born April 25, 1948 in Bakersfield and the son of a trainer, Earl Mitchell,
Mike Mitchell worked for legendary trainers Farrell Jones and Willard Proctor
prior to taking out his first trainer’s license in 1974. Married in 1982 to the
former Denise Weaver, Mitchell is survived by his wife and their two daughters,
McCall Rounsefell and Shea Leparoux.
Known primarily as a wizard at the claim box, Mitchell had a finely tuned
ability to analyze the way races would be run and the ability to communicate
pertinent pre-race information to those in his employ.
“The thing about Mike that I loved about him, was he had so much faith in
himself, so much confidence,” said retired Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr.
“He was one of my biggest supporters and we had a lot of success together. He
knew his horses and every time he told me a horse was doing well, they ran that
way. When I rode for Mike, he never gave me instructions and when I rode for
him, I had a lot of confidence. He was a great trainer with claiming horses and
with stakes horses. He was one of the best I ever rode for.”
Santa Anita’s leading Winter Meet trainer in 1992-93, and again in 2007-08,
he handed his stable over to his longtime assistant, Phil D’Amato on April 21,
2014 and retired due to his illness as Santa Anita’s fifth all-time leading
trainer with 659 wins, behind only Bobby Frankel, Charlie Whittingham, Bob
Baffert and Ron McAnally.
Mitchell’s first Santa Anita stakes winner was Johnny’s Image, who won the
1978 Santa Catalina S. (now run as the Robert B. Lewis [G3]), and he saddled a
total of 20 overall stakes winners at The Great Race Place, his final added
money Santa Anita win coming with Egg Drop in the Goldikova (G2) in 2013.
“Mike was a very aggressive guy when it came to where he was placing his
horses,” said veteran jockey agent, Scotty McClellan, who represented several
top riders during Mitchell’s career, including Darrell McHargue, Chris McCarron,
Alex Solis, Corey Nakatani and Joe Talamo. “He always ran them in live spots.
There were a lot of times a horse would run good and I’d be looking for a race
for $40,000 (claiming), and he’s looking for a race for 25 or 32 (thousand). He
did phenomenal with his claims over the years and if he said he had a runner,
believe me, it was a runner.”
McClellan also touched upon the kind of person Mitchell was.
“As competitive as he was, Mike loved to laugh,” he said. “He just loved to
laugh and hear new jokes — and play practical jokes. He was a great trainer and
a great person as well — one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
Mitchell, who won his first race at Bay Meadows in 1974, won 19 overall
training titles in Southern California. In addition to his two Santa Anita
Winter Meet titles, he won four training titles at Santa Anita’s Oak Tree
Meeting in 1983, 1995, 1996 and 2004. He also took five overall Hollywood Park
titles that included the 1982 Spring/Summer Meet, and Hollywood Park Fall Meets
in 1983, 1985, 1993 and 1997.
Del Mar’s all-time leading trainer with 476 seaside wins, Mitchell won seven
Del Mar titles; 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995, 1996 and 2011. He was also leading
trainer at Fairplex Park in 2008.
“I haven’t seen too many guys that were ever better with a condition book
than Mike,” said TVG’s Kurt Hoover. “He knew where to place his horses and when
to run ’em. In addition to that, I’ve known several people that had great
success with Mike as their trainer, but they all say that along with racing
success, the fun they had with both Mike and Denise was just as important.
“On top of all of his professional achievements is the fact that he had a
great family. You could see that they all genuinely enjoyed being together. He
was just an all-around good man.”
Although known (and feared) as one of the top claiming trainers of all-time,
Mitchell also developed a number of stakes winners, including the top sprinter
Kela, who provided him with his first Grade 1 win in the 2004 Bing Crosby H. at
Del Mar.
His greatest stakes success came late in his career with Irish-bred Obviously
(Choisir), who won five graded stakes, including the Shoemaker Mile (G1),
between August 2012 and August 2013. Obviously also finished third for Mitchell,
behind eventual Horse of the Year Wise Dan (Wisemen’s Ferry), in the 2012
Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Santa Anita.
In addition to his wife and two daughters, Mitchell is survived by a twin
sister, Cheryl, and brothers Earl Jr., Guy and Casey. Funeral services are
pending.
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