Breeders’ Cup Diaries: Beautiful Beholder

It’s no secret that I’m a huge Beholder fan – in fact, the photo I took of her winning this year’s TVG Pacific Classic Stakes has been my desktop background from the hour after her victory at Del Mar this summer.

Working on the blog tonight and still can't believe Beholder's performance. She's my new desktop! pic.twitter.com/2aFSTt9w0u
— Penelope P. Miller (@PenelopePMiller) August 23, 2015
So when I arrived at Keeneland Race Course this morning to kick off my Breeders’ Cup week, I was determined to get tons of photos of the marvelous mare who’s set to take on the boys in this Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.
I was in luck, too, because she had her final pre-Breeders’ Cup workout – that’s when horses train at a pace that mimics racing speeds, which generally happens about once a week – scheduled today before the biggest race of her career.
She was slated to hit the track at about 8:30 a.m. ET, which is right after the break when tractors recondition the surface of Keeneland’s dirt main track to make sure that the footing is uniform for the horses training over it. When she emerged, Beholder was definitely the star of the show as the crowd collectively raised their cameras and phones to capture her every movement. Meanwhile, her Hall of Fame trainer, Richard Mandella, stood with Beholder’s owner, B. Wayne Hughes, in the raised, box seat area to ensure that they could enjoy an unobstructed view of their mare’s workout.

After a brief jaunt down the homestretch, Beholder and her pony pal Raul paused to take in the autumn morning as exercise rider Janeen Painter gave her mare a huge pat.

Then, Beholder started off around the track in a counterclockwise direction, warming up for her workout.

A few minutes later, Beholder was in full flight as she reentered the home stretch and flew toward the finish line to complete her five-eighths of a mile regime.

Now, admittedly, I was taking stills as well as running a Periscope of the action, but it seemed to me that Beholder put in a pretty solid breeze (horse racing’s terminology for training at full speed) in preparation for the Classic this Saturday. She has a tough race ahead of her, but she looks more than ready to take on the challenge.

After she completed her workout, Beholder headed back to her barn, which is exactly what I did, too. I am nothing if not a dedicated stalker when it comes to my favorite racehorses!
Speaking of, when I arrived at Beholder’s barn, I ran into another of my favorite Thoroughbreds around, Honor Code. He’s one of Beholder’s challengers in the Breeders’ Cup Classic; and with this duo, along with American Pharoah who arrives tomorrow, I am going to have a hard time picking a favorite horse in this race.

Hey, Boo.
When she arrived back at the barn, Beholder took a few laps around the barn to cool out while Mandella fielded questions from the press about his mare.

Owner B. Wayne Hughes was there as well, and he looked positively tickled by Beholder’s pre-Breeders’ Cup workout.

After she’d circled her barn a few times, Beholder’s rider Janeen Painter hopped off and removed the mare’s saddle before heading outside for a sponge bath in the crisp fall air.

All the while, Mandella watched Beholder attentively, holding her blanket at the ready for the moment her bath was complete.

When the last sud of soap was out of Beholder’s coat, her team swept into action to bundle her up, and then she was led back into the warm barn for a rest and some lunch.

That was my cue to head back up to the press box to charge my phone and get ready for the post position draw, the event that determines horses’ places in the starting gate for a race.
We’ll have lots of information about all that and more this week on the ABR website, and I’ll be back tomorrow with even more action out of Keeneland as we get ever closer to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships!