Q B One Progresses to First Timed Work

Spendthrift Farm's Q B One, the first foal out of champion Beholder, registered his first timed workout March 30 at Santa Anita Park. 

The 2-year-old colt by Uncle Mo  took to the main track Monday for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who conditioned his dam to four Eclipse Awards. Working in company with an unnamed juvenile colt by Runhappy —Minds Eyes, by Macho Uno , Q B One and his stablemate—whom Spendthrift purchased for $240,000 from Nursery Place at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale—traveled a quarter-mile in :25 4/5 on a fast track.

"It was more of an open gallop," Mandella said. "He's just now getting ready to start doing a little more serious work and that's what we're doing. But everything so far is very nice."

"We're still a good ways off from running a race, but it's one more step in the progression," said Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey. "I think back to the time that (Beholder) arrived at the farm and those decisions on who to breed her to and getting her bred and getting her foaled out and raising Q B One, even a naming contest.

"This is something that takes a while. It's definitely a game for the patient. It's very gratifying when you get to this point, but obviously we've got a good bit farther to go. It's wonderful that he's gotten to the point that he's gotten to. It's the very first little bit of speed work that he's done. We're still really a little ways away from knowing what we've got there, but the exciting part is, this is a horse who has shown a lot of the right kinds of things, a lot of things that you like to see in a young horse.

"He seems to pick things up very well; he seems to be a very smart horse. He's got a nice way of moving, so we're really excited about where we've gotten him to. Thank you to all of the people—both our staff and all the other people—that have continued to get him safely to where he's gotten to right now."

Q B One arrived in Mandella's care mid-March. He grew up in Spendthrift's fields, where Toffey said he thrived from the routine of being turned out and playing with his friends. His first taste of training came with Kevin Noltemeyer at Steve Johnson's Silver Springs Stud, which operates on a nearby property in Central Kentucky owned by Spendthrift, before he moved south to follow in his dam's footsteps.

"All of our yearlings were sent over there (to Silver Springs) to start. They did a wonderful job with all of our yearlings," Toffey said. "They stayed here through the fall and in December shipped down to Ocala to Raul Reyes at King's Equine. Raul's broken our horses for a number of years now and does a wonderful job. They took that next step with Raul. Of course Raul broke Beholder, so he's well familiar with the family and we're very appreciative of the job that both of those outfits did."

While Q B One is just now starting to get into more serious training with Mandella, Toffey said he believes the colt has the same energy that Beholder showed, and that he was informed by Reyes that Q B One showed a glimpse of what they used to see in Beholder in one of his more serious training sessions in Ocala.

"He's a different type physically. He's a great big, scopey, leggy horse. He still has that frame where he still really needs to grow into it, where Beholder as a 2-year-old, she was a little bit more compact, a little more speed-oriented looking," added Toffey. "It really wasn't until she started to turn from her 2 to her 3-year-old year that you saw her stretch out and start to look more like a classic racehorse, that she got some more size, some more scope, some more stretch about her.

"This guy was sort of born with that. He was born with that tremendous frame. He's always sort of looked a little bit like the 17-year-old kid with great big feet that needs to grow into himself. You know they're going to get there, but it's going to take some time. That's what we've seen with this guy. He's still got a big frame that he's growing into and continuing to fill out.

"He's a little bit different from Mom in that respect, but hopefully once the gates open we'll see lots of similarities."

Beholder, by Henny Hughes—Leslie's Lady, by Tricky Creek, was bred and sold by Clarkland Farm. Her half brother Into Mischief , the Spendthrift stallion that turned into 2019's leading general sire, had his first yearlings at the time. Spendthrift purchased Beholder for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She went on to earn over $6.1 million throughout five seasons with Mandella, three Breeders' Cup victories—the Juvenile Fillies (G1) and twice the Distaff (G1)—and Eclipse Awards for champion 2-year-old filly, champion 3-year-old filly, and two championship titles for older mare. Her 18 victories in 26 starts also included the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (G1) over males.

As for Q B One, "he's just now at a training state where we start getting more serious and we'll do that a little at a time," Mandella said. 

"He's good-natured, a little bit too playful," the trainer added, "but he knows who he is. He's Beholder's son."