Beholder Dominant in 2016 Debut

Southern California's queen of racing is back, and as usual, she didn't even break a sweat.

In her 6-year-old debut in the $100,000 Adoration Stakes (gr. III) May 8 at Santa Anita Park, Spendthrift Farm's three-time champion Beholder breezed to her seventh straight victory and 16th overall.

The daughter of Henny Hughes broke in coming out of the gate at the start of the 1 1/16-mile dirt test, traveled four-wide in the first turn, challenged the front-runner on the second bend, and put away multiple stakes winner Sheer Pleasure with ease to complete the distance in 1:42.73 without any asking from jockey Gary Stevens.

Stevens did let her run a little, however, in the final sixteenth.

"Richard does all the work, along with the whole crew, and I get to have all the fun," said Stevens, who has piloted the mare to her last six victories. "That's all that was—fun. I had to let her do a little something in that last sixteenth, because she wanted to. She had fun, I had fun."

Tracking Sheer Pleasure on the backstretch, with the fractions clicked off in :24.01, :48.25, and 1:12.44 through six furlongs. Beholder finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of Sheer Pleasure. All Star Bub was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third, but those margins come with significant context.

"It was just nice to see her relax out there," said trainer Richard Mandella, who also indicated the Vanity Stakes (gr. I) June 4 at Santa Anita would be next for Beholder, where she may encounter 2015 champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind. "She was a little tense when we saddled her, because she has been away for a while, but once she got the tack on and out there, she was fine."

Though Beholder dominated on the track, more news may have been made before the race during a television interview with Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes.

"I want to let the owners of the (Kentucky) Derby know that we hope they win the Triple Crown and then they show up at the Breeders' Cup," Hughes said to TVG's Britney Eurton, not so subtly indicating plans to run in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) and poking at Nyquist's connections a day after they won the first leg of the Triple Crown. Beholder was scratched from the 2016 Classic when she bled after a workout.

Hughes prodded another potential Classic runner only a moment later when Eurton asked if he was forgetting about California Chrome  .

"Who's that?" Hughes said with a laugh.

Beholder's second straight Adoration win was her 11th graded score and 14th stakes win overall. She has won at least one graded stakes at age 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and has a 16-3-0 record in 21 starts, with $4,496,600 in earnings.