Macho Man, Beholder Brilliant at Santa Anita

Mucho Macho Man got his first Grade 1 victory in the 2013 Awesome Again Stakes (Photos courtesy Benoit & Associates).
By Mike Curry and Melissa Bauer-Herzog, America’s Best Racing
Santa Anita’s Super Saturday card was highlighted by a pair of scintillating performances that served as ideal springboards for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in five weeks.
Mucho Macho Man crushed the opposition in the $250,000 Awesome Again Stakes to secure a coveted, first-career Grade 1 win. The 5-year-old by Macho Uno had finished in the top three in Grade 1 races four times previously, including a runner-up finish in the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic, but just could never quite reach the finish line first against the very best opposition.
That changed at the top of the stretch in the Awesome Again Stakes as Mucho Macho Man unleashed an explosive burst of speed to seize command. Paynter made a late run at 8-to-5 favorite Mucho Macho Man but the result was never in question as the victor not only got his Grade 1 win, he made a statement entering the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2.
Mucho Macho Man completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.30 and he did it so easily under Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens that it seems clear he is very comfortable on the Santa Anita track. He lost the Classic last year by a half-length to Fort Larned with the next closest competitor another 6 ½ lengths back. The Awesome Again is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” race for the Classic, so Mucho Macho Man punched his ticket and by the looks of it on Saturday he should be a formidable contender in the $5 million race.
“The race was pretty much over at the three-eighths pole. He has a tremendous stride and he runs the turns really well. He’s very athletic,” Stevens said. “This horse only has to make up a neck from last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, and I think he’s a bigger, stronger horse than he was last year.”
Stevens victory aboard Mucho Macho Man completed a sweep of the final two Grade 1s on the Santa Anita Super Saturday card. He won the $250,000 Zenyatta Stakes aboard Beholder one race earlier in a performance that was equally dominant.
Beholder went right to the lead in the 1 1/16-mile race and coasted through three-quarters of a mile under Stevens. Grade 1 winners Include Me Out and Joyful Victory moved up to challenge Beholder on the final turn, but she shrugged them off and motored away to a three-length lead in the stretch. Beholder cruised to the finish line with very little urging from Stevens as the 8-to-5 favorite.
“The filly’s very special. I’m very proud of her,” winning trainer Richard Mandella said. “She’ll go in the [$2 million Breeders’ Cup] Distaff [on Nov. 1] after this. … She’s just a filly that really likes the fight. She likes going to battle and it comes out when the race is run.”
BEHOLDER BEAT HER ELDERS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE ZENYATTA STAKES

Beholder improved to four wins and two seconds in six starts for trainer Richard Mandella and owner Spendthrift Farm. Her two defeats came in her season debut and the Kentucky Oaks, the latter to Princess of Sylmar.
With four straight Grade 1 wins - including against older females in the Beldame Invitational Stakes on Saturday - and a win over Beholder, Princess of Sylmar appears to have a comfortable lead in the race for the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly. Beholder could make that race much more interesting with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita, where she has five wins in six career starts. Regardless of the championship race, Beholder showed again in the Zenyatta Stakes that she is one special filly. Expect her to be tough to beat in the Distaff.
In other Santa Anita action:
FrontRunner Stakes: Bond Holder’s first time on dirt proved to be a success as the 2-year-old Mineshaft colt earned his first career win in the Grade 1, $250,000 FrontRunner Stakes.
BOND HOLDER'S FIRST DIRT TRY WAS A SUCCESSFUL ONE

Bond Holder was near the back of the pack going down the backstretch before he was asked to move going into the turn. He steadily gained positions as the field moved into the stretch and took over the lead from the middle of the track to beat a confidently ridden Dance With Fate. The win gave trainer Doug O’Neill a Grade 1 victory on both coasts on Saturday as he also won the Vosburgh Invitational Stakes with Private Zone at Belmont Park.
Chandelier Stakes: All attention was on the wrong Bob Baffert filly for Santa Anita’s first Grade 1 race of the day when Fascinating went off as the favorite in the Chandelier Stakes, but it was Baffert's Secret Compass who won the race.
SECRET COMPASS RAN DOWN SHE'S A TIGER FOR THE CHANDELIER WIN

The 2-year-old fillies set blistering early fractions that would lead to a new stakes record of 1:44.91 for the 1 1/16 miles. Secret Compass raced in fourth for the first half of the race but was asked to move by Rosie Napravnik entering the turn. It looked like She’s a Tiger was poised to earn another stakes victory, but Secret Compass finally caught the leader and passed her right as they hit the finish line.
The Chandelier is the first graded stakes victory for Secret Compass, who earned her way into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles on Santa Anita’s dirt track.
Rodeo Drive Stakes: Vionnet almost pulled a major upset in the $250,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes but in the end 8-to-5 second choice Tiz Flirtatious proved why the bettors had the right idea.
TIZ FLIRTATIOUS IS A CONSISTENT MARE ON THE CALIFORNIA TURF THIS YEAR

Vionnet went through soft fractions and looked like she would get the win, pulling away every time another horse came close to her. Marketing Mix started to wear away at the filly in the stretch and gained even more ground when she saw Tiz Flirtatious coming on the outside, but Tiz Flirtatious was able to get the win in a photo finish.
For Equibase charts, click here.