Classic Contender Beholder Takes to Track
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Beholder checks out the track at Keeneland on Oct 22.
Champion Beholder took to the track in Lexington as dawn was just creeping over the Keeneland grandstand, getting a long-awaited look at the site of her Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) run.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella was all smiles as the 5-year-old racemare returned to the barn after an easy gallop, her training back on course after shipping fever caused her to miss a few days following her Oct. 19 arrival.
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"This was a lot better morning than that first one," the Hall of Fame trainer said. "She looked great."
Regular exercise rider Janeen Painter was in the irons for Beholder's first Keeneland gallop. Wearing her golden Breeders' Cup saddle towel, number 101, Spendthrift Farm's star runner was inquisitive but well-behaved as she took in the sights of the new venue.
"We took her up there and gave her just a simple, once-around gallop. Because she had a few days off we didn't want to fuss around and get her upset," Mandella said. "She had a great day, looked great going over the racetrack, and she looked pretty happy here cooling out, so we're back in the game."
Later in the morning, Beholder enjoyed turnout time in the new roundpen Spendthrift had set up near her temporary home in Barn 60 on Rice Road. Mandella said he isn't sure exactly when she'll breeze, but added she still will do a little something in preparation for the Classic.
"We won't be in a hurry tomorrow, we're going to (gallop again), but a little bit more. We'll take our time and let her enjoy seeing things," he said. "She came here ready to run, so the day I breeze her or how far is not going to be a big difference. It's just a matter of keeping her healthy and happy. She will get a little breeze, but I'm going to just let her tell me what day."
Beholder, a two-time Eclipse Award winner who won the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) and the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I), is aiming to become the first horse in history to win three different Breeders' Cup races. Last year she missed defending her Distaff title when she became ill with a fever and lung infection, but this season she is 5-for-5 and comes off a brilliant Sept. 26 win in the Zenyatta Stakes (gr. I). One start prior beat the boys by 8 1/4 lengths in the TVG Pacific Classic (gr. I) in her first attempt at the Classic's 1 1/4-mile distance. In her final Southern California breeze before shipping to Kentucky, she went five furlongs in 1:02 flat under Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, her usual race rider who has the Classic mount.