Trio of Grade 1 Winners Face Off in Beholder Mile

There is no question half of the field for the $400,000 Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) June 2 at Santa Anita Park is capable of brilliance.

All grade 1 winners, each in the trio has put up performances that made them appear untouchable.

Paradise Woods won the 2017 Santa Anita Oaks (G1) by a jaw-dropping 11 3/4 lengths, Unique Bella has won three graded stakes by 7 1/2 lengths or more (along with three other graded victories), and Vale Dori went on a tear in 2016-17, when she won six straight races, five of them graded events.

But who will win the Beholder is very much up in the air, as each has also shown the capacity to misfire.

For every quality start, Paradise Woods seems to have an accompanying clunker. Unique Bella, who has gone off at an average price of 1-2 in her 10 starts, has had moments when she's caused her own trouble, including when she missed the break last time out in the April 13 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park, rushed up to the front mid-race, and could not hold off winner Unbridled Mo late. Vale Dori had been one of the most consistent horses in the country (following her five straight graded wins, she finished second by a neck to champion Stellar Wind in a pair of grade 1 races to end her 2017 campaign), but didn't fire in her 2018 debut, a fifth-place run in the May 6 Adoration Stakes (G3).

"It's part of my job," Paradise Woods' trainer Richard Mandella said of dealing with her inconsistent races. "What you have are some fillies who are a little sensitive and high-strung, and they let that get in the way of their performance sometimes."

For Steven Sarkowsky and Martin and Pam Wygod's Paradise Woods, specifically, Mandella—who also trained Beholder—attributes her sometimes poor performance with her attitude and "delicate" feet.

"She's not aggressive like Beholder was," the Hall of Fame trainer said. "She's sensitive—takes things too seriously sometimes. It's not that she's not trying. It's that she's probably trying too much. And she has delicate feet and that can lead to bruises, and sometimes you don't know until after the race."

For Don Alberto Stables' Unique Bella, her connections are hopeful a return home to Santa Anita, where she has won her past six starts (her only loss at the track was in her debut in June of 2016), and an outside post will remedy the issues that arose at Oaklawn.

"She's always given us a hard time with the gate, but horses are not perfect," Don Alberto racing manager Fernando Diaz-Valdes said of the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained 3-5 morning-line favorite. "(The outside post in the field of six) will help us tremendously. If you watched the Apple Blossom, at the gate, she got a little impatient. The (assistant starter) grabbed her tail, and she hates that, so she sat down, they opened the gate, and she wasn't ready."

The outside post is helpful, but maintaining outside position is likely the main goal for the Tapit  filly who has had some issues relaxing behind horses. In the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita, against Paradise Woods (second) and fellow Beholder Mile entrant Mopotism (third), Unique Bella drew inside of those rivals, but jockey Mike Smith got the big gray outside and comfortable after she broke from post 3, while Paradise Woods got caught on the rail after a break from post 7.

BALAN: Unique Bella Wears Down Paradise Woods to Take La Brea

"She's doing well now, and on the outside, with a six-horse field—it's good," Diaz-Valdes said. "We should be there. ... If she does everything normal, she should win."

Vale Dori figures to take a step forward after a flat performance in the Adoration, her first start since July, but trainer Bob Baffert said the 6-year-old mare is still working into her top form.

"I wasn't in town when she ran, but she looked a little heavy and a little soft (in the Adoration)," Baffert said. "And she didn't get away great. You have to get a little aggressive with her getting away, because she likes to be in the fight.

"I'd like to get her into an easier spot, but there are no easy spots in California. She should (take a step forward). She's slowly getting back there, but it usually takes her a couple races to get her going again."

The other three entrants in the Beholder Mile aren't slouches, either. Both of the Doug O'Neill-trained duo—Mopotism and Munny Spunt—are graded winners, but each is also returning to racing off a short break. Mopotism, the Jan. 13 La Canada Stakes (G2) winner, finished seventh in the May 26 Gamely Stakes (G1T) last time out. Munny Spunt, who won the Aug. 27 Torrey Pines (G3) against Paradise Woods (sixth), came in fourth in an optional-claiming allowance at Santa Anita, also May 26.

The final entrant in the field is German-bred allowance winner La Force, who finished just a neck behind Mopotism in the La Canada and came in 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Vale Dori in the Adoration.

So who will fire and who won't?

"I wish I could say I know for sure, but I don't," Mandella said. "They're all good fillies and whoever is doing best Saturday will probably win. It’s a very good field. Being named after Beholder, it should be."

Entries: Beholder Mile S. (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, June 02, 2018, Race 9

• Grade I
• 1m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:53 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Munny Spunt (FL)	Kyle Frey	121	Doug F. O'Neill	30/1
2	2Mopotism (KY)	Geovanni Franco	121	Doug F. O'Neill	15/1
3	3La Force (GER)	Drayden Van Dyke	121	Patrick Gallagher	20/1
4	4Paradise Woods (KY)	Flavien Prat	123	Richard E. Mandella	2/1
5	5Vale Dori (ARG)	Rafael Bejarano	121	Bob Baffert	4/1
6	6Unique Bella (PA)	Mike E. Smith	121	Jerry Hollendorfer	3/5