As happy as trainer Dick Mandella was after winning the $6 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), that's how crushed he was moments after the race when he was told on the phone by his son, Gary, in California, that his longtime friend and mentor, V.J. "Lefty" Nickerson, had died in his sleep just hours earlier.
Saturday, March 27, 2004Retired New York trainer V.J. "Lefty" Nickerson, a huge influence on the career of Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella, died March 26 in his sleep at his Smithtown, N.Y., home.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
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