Top Assistant Mora Trusted Presence in Dubai

A confluence of events put Leandro Mora in the northern region of San Diego County Dec. 7. 

Trainer Doug O'Neill's top assistant usually spends most of his time with the large stable's main string at Santa Anita Park, but Stephanie Murray, O'Neill's assistant in charge at San Luis Rey Training Center, was about to have a baby.

Mora had also had a stroke a little more than two years earlier, and some time away from the hustle and bustle of Santa Anita could do him some good. It was supposed to be a semi-vacation at the Bonsall, Calif., facility.

"Doug told me to go take a vacation," Mora said. "Stephanie is having a baby, so just go down there and don't do too much. Just lay back a little."

But there would be no relaxing on that fateful day.

The first sign of fire came in the morning, when it was getting close to owner Paul Reddam's Ocean Breeze Ranch, a few miles up the road from San Luis Rey. Mora, who was staying in one of Reddam's mansions in the area, got to Ocean Breeze quickly to get top-10 California sire Square Eddie  out of harm's way.

"We got the goose with the golden eggs out of there," said Mora, never shy about showing his sense of humor.

Mora made a call over to San Luis Rey to check on the situation. His staff had been through this before. Fires sometimes loom, but they never get there. There was no reason for concern. But O'Neill's top lieutenant went over just to make sure. 

After he arrived, the fire got to San Luis Rey and spread rapidly as embers burst out of the palm trees over the barns. Mora got some horses onto trailers to head to safety, but he had to let many run free and hoped they'd avoid injury. Forty-six horses died in the devastating blaze, and in the chaos, Mora took control the best he could. Ultimately, his presence was a blessing. O'Neill did not lose one horse in the fire.

"He's been through a ton, and he's a resilient, tough dude," O'Neill said. "He's a classy, brave individual who is more than anything an unbelievable horseman. To see what that fire did, and to have Leandro there to manage it and make tough decisions—I couldn't have been more fortunate he was there."

Almost four months later, Mora is on another semi-vacation in Dubai. With O'Neill attending to the main string at Santa Anita and Reddam handling business at home, the 59-year-old son of Colima, Mexico, has had the spotlight thrust upon him with Reddam's Pavel at Meydan for the March 31 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1). 

For the past week—more than 40 years after he started walking hots for Gary Jones—he's had press conferences in front of the international media and rubbed elbows with royalty.

"When I sit in the afternoon and have a couple sips of wine, I think, 'Holy—look how far I have come?'" Mora said. "It just makes you feel really, really good."

But Mora didn't get to Dubai—this is his 12th trip—by accident. For racing operations with names like Asmussen, Baffert, Pletcher, O'Neill, and many others, a top-level assistant is a must. The top barns in America need to have a trusted ally on the ground to not only communicate what is going on, but also make crucial decisions on the fly.

For a man like Mora—who has been with O'Neill for 17 years and traveled to seemingly every racing jurisdiction stateside—trust has been earned, and it is unwavering.

"It's about the trust I have in him, but also the trust the owners have, whether it's Leandro or me—they have equal faith," O'Neill said. "He's priceless to the team, and he's family."

Trainer Bob Baffert has sent assistant Jimmy Barnes out on the road more times than he can count. Practically every big name who has ever left the Baffert barn to chase big races out of state has been shepherded by Barnes.

"You have to have guys like that," Baffert said. "These guys have been working for us for a long time, so they know, if there's an issue or a problem, how to deal with it.

"You have to have that. You have to trust their judgment and their opinion. If the horses are not eating up and you have to switch things up, they know when to make that call. Jimmy knows everything on the road—who the stakes coordinators are, what veterinarians are there, who is the gallop boy—he's got all the stuff."

But traveling with the big horses from America's top barns comes with pressure. And Mora believes the pressure took a toll.

At the time of his stroke in 2015, he was on the road quite often, and it caused him to take a step back.

"My doctor told me I'm a 6-5 favorite to have another one, so you better look after yourself and keep taking your medication," Mora said. "That makes you think about quitting and doing things for your life and for change. I don't have heart disease, I don't have high cholesterol, so how in the hell did I have a stroke? It was the stress."

Asmussen's assistant Scott Blasi, who is in Dubai to care for UAE Derby Sponsored By Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group (G2) contender Reride, wouldn't mind the comforts of home being available a little more often, but he ultimately sides with the honor of having the responsibility of supervising the stable's top runners.

"When you're off on your own with those kinds of horses, there is a certain amount of pressure for things to go right and to make good things happen," Blasi said. "It's on you for things to go right, and there's a lot of things that can go right and there's a lot of things that can go wrong.

"It's nice to sleep in your own bed. But you know what? The reward, when you win the races like the (grade/group 1) Dubai World Cup, the (Breeders' Cup) Classic, the Pegasus (World Cup Invitational)—that ride with Gun Runner , that ride with Curlin , that ride with Rachel (Alexandra). You go on the road and you be happy.

"A problem is not having those kinds of horses. A problem is not staying in a hotel."