Beholder Logs First Del Mar Breeze of Summer
Image:
Description:
A slew of graded stakes winners recorded timed workouts July 22 at Del Mar, highlighted by Spendthrift Farm's two-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder.
The 5-year-old Henny Hughes mare covered a mile in 1:40 2/5, while working in company with a stablemate, in preparation for the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 1. Trainer Richard Mandella would not say who the workout partner was, but fellow Mandella-trained graded stakes winner Moulin de Mougin was the only other horse on the Del Mar worktab to go a mile (1:41 1/5).
"It was very nice—a nice mile," Mandella said of Beholder's breeze. "The track is still a little bit heavy, but we're as good as we're going to be."
Beholder prepped for the Hirsch with a victory in the Adoration Stakes (gr. III) at Santa Anita Park June 13, defeating Warren's Veneda by 1 1/4 lengths. The Craig Lewis-trained Warren's Veneda is expected to take on Beholder again in the Hirsch, after a fourth-place finish in the Great Lady M Stakes (gr. IIT) at Los Alamitos Race Course July 11.
BALAN: Beholder Comfortably Wins Adoration Stakes
Another Mandella trainee, two-time graded winner Catch a Flight, recorded his second Del Mar workout of the summer Wednesday, breezing four furlongs in :49 2/5. The son of Giant's Causeway had a two-race win streak snapped June 27, with a third-place finish in the Gold Cup (gr. I) at Santa Anita.
"He just had a little eye-opener," Mandella said of Catch a Flight's drill in preparation for the $200,000 San Diego Handicap (gr. II) July 25.
Other notable workers included the John Sadler-trained Stellar Wind and Hard Aces.
Hronis Racing's Stellar Wind, the winner of the Santa Anita Oaks (gr. I) and Summertime Oaks (gr. II) at Santa Anita, ran five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 in her first Del Mar work of the summer, the ninth-best time of 79 drills at the distance.
BALAN: Stellar Wind Edges 'Tango' in Summertime Oaks
Hard Aces, also owned by Hronis Racing, covered five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 in his second breeze since his upset victory in the Gold Cup.
BALAN: Hard Aces Rides Rail to Win Gold Cup
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's Thegirlinthatsong (seven furlongs, 1:25 2/5) Sam's Sister (five furlongs, 1:02), and Sahara Sky (five furlongs, 1:01 4/5) also logged workouts, along with Bob Baffert-trained Gimme Da Lute, who ran five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 and is riding a two-race win streak with wins in the Affirmed Stakes (gr. III) and Los Alamitos Derby (gr. II).