In the latest edition of his hugely popular series, our correspondent reflects on the remarkable career of a Californian-based gelding who won everybody’s hearts before his retirement aged nine in 2007
The Tin Man of legend is a romantically tragic figure, plagued by a witch’s spell, brave beyond words, and yet doomed to an everlasting quest for a heart so that he could love once again.
“I have escaped so many dangers, during my lifetime, that I am not much afraid of anything that can happen,” the Tin Man proclaims in the classic tale by Frank Baum.
Nearly a century after the publication of The Wizard of Oz, a Thoroughbred foal entered this world that would embody both the name and the spirit of the woodsman made of tin.
Through a career of 31 races, spanning parts of seven seasons, he would carry the colors of his breeders, Ralph and Aury Todd, to soaring popularity well beyond the stable of trainer Richard Mandella, stoically overcoming the dangers inherent in his way of life. The only difference was, this tin man was made of nothing but heart.
Elegant young colt
The Tin Man was an elegant young colt, a warm bay with black leggings, mane and tail. His unmarked head was refined, reminiscent of his sire, Affirmed, winner of the 1978 Triple Crown and two-time Horse of the Year.
Affirmed waited until his 18th of 21 full crops to father his leading earner. At $3.6 million and change, The Tin Man was one of seven millionaires and 86 stakes winners sired by Affirmed. They included Canadian Horse of the Year Peteski, two-time female turf champion Flawlessly, the intercontinental star Zoman, and the versatile Affluent, a G1 winner on grass and dirt.
The Tin Man was produced by 17-year-old Lizzie Rolfe, a daughter of champion and classic winner Tom Rolfe, who was 19 when Lizzie hit the ground. Lizzie Rolfe was by Dancing Liz, a stakes winner on turf and dirt for the Todds who went on to a prolific broodmare career, with 10 winners among her 16 foals, including Malibu Stakes winner Oraibi.
Lizzie Rolfe was not one of those winners, but at least she tried. After three fruitless starts as a three-year-old in 1984, Mandella and the Todds sent her into retirement. Lizzie Rolfe came out firing with Mama Simba, her second foal, a multiple stakes winner of half a million dollars.
The Tin Man, Lizzie Rolfe’s ninth foal, arrived at Doug and Karen Arnold’s Buck Pond Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, on February 18, 1998. Buck Pond was the birthplace of Spectacular Bid.
Names are important, and Lizzie Rolfe’s was a natural. Not only was she out of Dancing Liz (an obvious hook), the real Elizabeth Rolfe was a half sister to the real Thomas Rolfe, a son of 17th century British merchant and North American colonizer John Rolfe.
Images of such bygone pioneers laboring in the forests of colonial Virginia could have played in the mind of Ralph Todd when it came time to name his son of Affirmed.
“My dad thought that the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz was pretty great, too,” said Stacey Nance, the Todds’ daughter.
The Todds lived in Santa Ynez, California, not far from where The Tin Man learned his early lessons at River Edge Farm, under the supervision of farm manager Russell Drake. He joined the Mandella stable as a two-year-old.
“We were about ready to start him late that year when he tried to bow in both front legs,” Mandella (right) said, turning pack the pages. “There was a lesion in one tendon and some irregularity in the other. Dr. Rick Arthur did a tendon splitting procedure and we sent him out to heal.”
Switch off on command
Since the damage was caught early, the prognosis was good. Still, when The Tin Man returned – now a gelding – Mandella was careful to mind those tendons, choosing the firm California turf over dirt courses of varying depth. It also helped that Affirmed was a proven sire of grass runners, and that even the young version of The Tin Man was turning out to be a horse with speed, endurance, and an ability to switch off on command.
Affirmed died on Jan. 12, 2001, at Jonabell Farm in Lexington. His remains are buried there beneath a statue crafted in his image. The Tin Man finally made it to the races 8½ months later in a one-mile turf race at Santa Anita Park. He finished fifth, beaten about 2½ lengths. The torch was passed.
Over the following six months, Mandella had the luxury of running The Tin Man in a series of allowance races. He won four times and finished second once, pleasing his trainer at every modest step along the way.
Even though Mandella was light on older grass runners – the versatile Redattore was the star of the barn – the trainer resisted throwing The Tin Man into stakes company until April 2002 in the San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields. As part of a four-horse race, The Tin Man finished third to the former French G1 winner Suances, beaten a length.
Come Memorial Day weekend, Mandella brought both The Tin Man and Redattore over for the G1 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park. Redattore finished second; The Tin Man beat one horse.
Bumping match
Undaunted, Mandella came right back with The Tin Man on the Fourth of July in the American Handicap at nine furlongs. Fireworks ensued, and after a bumping match in the stretch The Tin Man defeated Bay Meadows Handicap winner Devine Wind by a neck.
Mandella’s emerging star continued to be California’s holiday special, appearing next in the Del Mar Handicap over the Labor Day weekend. After pressing the pace for 10 of the 11 furlongs, The Tin Man took the lead only to be caught at the line by the worldly Delta Form, from Australia by way of South Africa.
In those days there were no soft spots on the Californian turf calendar. The Tin Man had to be in top form for the subsequent Clement Hirsch Memorial at Santa Anita in order to handle the odds-on favorite Sarafan, who had just missed that summer in the Arlington Million.
Leading from the start, The Tin Man held Sarafan safe by a length at the end of the mile and a quarter. Later in the year, Sarafan could be found at Nakayama, missing by a nose to the formidable Falbrav in the Japan Cup.
Clearly, The Tin Man had become a major player in the division. He had earned his shot at the Breeders’ Cup Turf, to be run that year at Arlington Park in chilly Chicago.
“He was galloping there on the turf one morning,” Mandella said. “There was a wire strung across the track at the finish line, and it caught what light there was. He saw that and propped like he’d seen something out to get him. I didn’t know what to think, but I did tell Mike Smith about it and to be ready, just in case.”
To that point, Smith had been The Tin Man’s only jockey. By the time he threw a leg over The Tin Man that Breeders’ Cup afternoon, he’d already won the Distaff with Azeri and the Juvenile with Vindication.
Under the wire
“I dropped my irons a couple holes just in case,” Smith said. “Going to the wire the first time we’re leading, and he spotted that wire. He kind of halfway propped, I have to push and slap on him. He finally went underneath it, but of course that throws your rhythm and timing off.”
They regrouped and soldiered on, continuing to lead the all-star field around the clubhouse turn and down the backstretch of the lush Arlington turf.
“Here we come around heading for home, and I’ve got horse,” Smith said. “He opened up on them, and I know how tough he can be when he’s on the lead like that. But he knows he’s got to go under that wire again, so he starts slowing down.”
The Tin Man finished fourth, beaten three lengths by the formidable High Chaparral, an excellent Epsom Derby winner earlier that same year for the Coolmore team.
“I’m not saying we would have won,” Smith added. “But faced with going under that thing twice cost him something.”
After a brief rest, The Tin Man went right back to work in early 2003 at Santa Anita, finishing a close second to stablemate Johar in the San Marcos Stakes before winning the mile-and-a-half San Luis Obispo Handicap over yielding turf by 9½ lengths.
The performance inspired gamblers to make The Tin Man favorite for the Jim Murray Handicap at Hollywood Park (named for the Pulitzer Prize winning sports columnist), and yet he had no punch at the end, fading to seventh in the field of eight.
Despite his antics in the Chicago race, The Tin Man had proved to be a good traveler, leading Mandella to take a shot at the historic United Nations Handicap at Monmouth Park in July. The trainer already had won the race twice, and The Tin Man nearly gave him a third after falling half-a-length short of the front-running Balto Star.
On the road again
The Tin Man and his entourage were on the road again in August for the first of three eventful appearances in the Arlington Million. Their gelding ran a gritty race, taking the lead over an all-star field between calls in the stretch.
He could not stave off the late runners, but thankfully he was nowhere near the fallen Gary Stevens, who was trampled by several trailing runners after Storming Home bolted out from under him nearing the wire.
Although his five-year-old form had been spotty, The Tin Man deserved a crack at another Breeders’ Cup Turf, especially since the 2003 event would be played on his home court at Santa Anita.
The Tin Man was one of seven starters for Mandella on that single-day program, spread over four of the eight races. In a performance without precedent, the trainer returned with four winning horses – Halfbridled in the Juvenile Fillies, Action This Day in the Juvenile, Johar in a dead-heat with High Chaparral in the Turf, and Pleasantly Perfect in the Classic.
The Tin Man could do no better than fourth in the Turf, but at least he finished ahead of Storming Home, Balto Star, and Million winner Sulamani. It was time for another break in training – only this time it would be nearly 10 months before The Tin Man’s fans would see him again.
“Those tendons just got progressively better with time, until they weren’t really a concern at all,” Mandella said. “But he’d get pretty worn out by the end of the year.”
He had a right. By November 2003, The Tin Man had been in 18 races over a span of 25 months. Mandella gave him a good, long holiday at the start of 2004, hoping he would have a fresh horse at the end of the year, when events like the Breeders’ Cup and Japan Cup beckoned.
If only it was that simple. The Tin Man returned to work in August at Del Mar in an allowance race against opponents who should have felt humbled to compete in his presence. He finished third, without much fuss, behind the unheralded Stage Player, who shaded 1:34 for the mile.
Benefit of the doubt
Being six, The Tin Man might have been rusty (sorry about that) and certainly deserved the benefit of the doubt. However, coming right back in a Listed handicap, also at a mile at Del Mar, the result was even worse. He was outrun all the way around to finish in front of only one horse in the field of 10.
If something was going wrong physically, the problem had yet to reveal itself. Perhaps he needed to get back home to Santa Anita, and away from the scampering milers. Perhaps a swing at a second victory in the 10-furlong Clement Hirsch Memorial would resurrect his form. Chasing the high-flying gray horse, Star Over the Bay, The Tin Man loomed close to the lead in the stretch but could not sustain his momentum and finished fourth.
Beaten a bit more than two lengths, he was hardly embarrassed, but he did turn up lame.
“It was a suspensory ligament,” Mandella said. “A lot more serious than those tendons he had. It’s the kind of injury that can lead to a breakdown,”
So that was that. The Tin Man had given his people 21 races and enough thrills to keep him in their hearts forever. He was off to the farm to heal, hopefully to spend the rest of his days pasture sound and happy. No one, however, accounted for The Tin Man’s incredible powers of recovery. The ligament healed, and once again the game was afoot.
“I sent him to Neil French at San Luis Rey Downs and told him to just walk him around, nothing much for about four months,” Mandella said, referring to the senior California trainer valued for his intuitive handling of layups and rehabs. “I’m sure a lot of people had forgotten about him and were surprised to see him back. But his ability to recover was amazing.”
The Tin Man was back in the starting gate on Dec. 28, 2005. It had been 451 days since his last race. Dismissed at nearly 7-1 by justifiably skeptical horseplayers, the gelding displayed every ounce of his old grit to defeat the accomplished Captain Squire by a head at a mile on firm ground.
Nothing short of miraculous
He bounced out of the race looking for more, giving Mandella the cue. What transpired over the next 20 months was nothing short of miraculous – a second act worthy of Shakespeare at his heroic best, bearing himself “well beyond the promise of his age.”
In January, making his eight-year-old debut with Victor Espinoza now firmly in the saddle, The Tin Man dismissed 10 opponents in the San Marcos Stakes. In March, The Tin Man journeyed to the Middle East to finish second to David Junior in the $5m Dubai Duty Free, eliciting the line of the night from Mandella, who quipped: “Just wait till next year. He’ll be mature by then.”
After a brief respite, The Tin Man was back on the job in July to win his second American Handicap, four years after 
his first. That set up the prospect of a second appearance in the Arlington Million, although Mandella had serious reservations and delivered them to Arlington’s general manager, Bill Thayer.
“I was thinking about how he reacted to that wire above the finish line,” the trainer said. “Bill told me not to worry. It would be gone. They didn’t use it for anything anyway.”
Further accommodations were not necessary. Facing a stellar field that included Breeders’ Cup Turf winners English Channel and Better Talk Now, The Tin Man led all the way around to defeat Manhattan Handicap winner Cacique by a length.
A real champion
“Of all his races, that one meant the most,” said Stacey Nance. “Winning the Million felt like he was on top of the world. We were not big owners, and here was our homebred, a real champion. I’ve never felt so famous.”
Six weeks later, The Tin Man was back home at Santa Anita, winning the Clement Hirsch Memorial for the second time – again, four years after his first. It was not an easy race – beating the distance ace T.H. Approval by a head – and a wary Mandella was loathe to push for more. After that, The Tin Man got a winter holiday, training lightly for a springtime return at the unlikely age of nine.
“He still had a lot of vitality,” Mandella said. “As sweet as he was around the barn, he was always serious in his training.”
Mandella circled the Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park on May 27, 2007, for The Tin Man’s return. The G1 event attracted a salty bunch, including Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Kip Deville, but they were no match. The Tin Man stalked the pace, burst to the front late, and won by three-quarters of a length.
The Shoemaker turned out to be his last hurrah, although The Tin Man continued to be a nasty thorn in the side of younger opposition. As 2007 unfolded, he was second in the American Handicap, beaten just a head, then came second in another Arlington Million, by three-quarters of a length.
Something amiss
After another second-place finish in the Clement Hirsch, losing by a length after taking the lead, Mandella was suspicious that something amiss might be brewing beneath The Tin Man’s sunny surface. He ordered a diagnostic exploration of the gelding’s ankles.
“It turned out there was some bone bruising, but nothing serious,” Mandella said. “He’d get some time off, and who’s to say he couldn’t come back again at age 10?”
Then came one of those heartbreaking unpredictables. Emerging from the anesthetic at Santa Anita’s backstretch clinic, The Tin Man gained his feet on the third try, then proceeded to run around the recovery room like a kid on a sugar high.
He walked back to the Mandella barn, composed but not apologetic, and tucked into his number one stall by the stable office. There didn’t appear to be any damage done, but before too long, Mandella noticed swelling in the right knee. X-rays revealed a serious fracture that required heavy bandaging and near immobility, a state of affairs that tempted such fates as colic and laminitis.
His racing career might have been finished, but The Tin Man’s recuperative powers were intact. For seven months he lingered in the Mandella stable – barn pet, old friend, you name it.
Big hunk of life
“I wasn’t about to let him go until I knew he’d be okay,” Mandella said at the time. “Seven years he’s been here. That’s a big hunk of my life. There wasn't a year, wasn't a day that didn't go by that I didn't appreciate just how unique a horse he was.”
In May 2008, The Tin Man took up residence in a pasture at River Edge Farm. He was sound, though stiff-legged because of the knee. In due course he moved to the property of Stacey Nance in Santa Ynez, not far from River Edge, where he had his own two-acre pasture and a circle of friends from various branches of the animal kingdom, including a retired roping horse named Chick and a faithful goat companion.
“Ralph Todd once told me that driving in one day he saw The Tin Man laying down in the pasture, with the goat standing on top of him,” Mandella said.
Cows, on the other hand, were another story. “His two acres shared the fence line with the roping arena,” Nance said. “He loved to hang his head over the fence and watch while we were roping. People would ask about him and be amazed when I told them who he was.”
At the end of the arena were pens that held the roping cattle who would be allowed into The Tin Man’s pasture to graze.
“There was a speckled calf among them,” Nance said. “And for whatever reason, The Tin Man did not like that calf. He cut that one out of the herd and chased it around, running after it like nobody’s business. At first it was kind of cool and funny, but then I began to panic. I was worried about the poor little calf, and about The Tin Man’s knee. I was out there in shorts and tennis shoes running around, blocking them, closing gates, before I finally got the calf locked down.”
The Tin Man fell ill and was euthanized on April 29, 2015, at 17. Three days later, at Doncaster in Yorkshire, England, a British three-year-old named The Tin Man made his racing debut. He would go on to a 31-race career of his own that included three victories in G1 sprints.
As for the American version of The Tin Man, few horses in this writer’s experience have been adored for longer at the top of the game. In a fitting tribute, he was honored with a series of turf races at Santa Anita. His ashes and his braided tail have been preserved in a special box at home with Stacey Nance.
“For a Thoroughbred, he was pretty easy-going, and a true champion,” she said. “He was just one of those horses that everybody loved.”
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