Beholder back on work tab with easy breeze

DEL MAR, Calif. – Beholder worked three furlongs in 37.40 seconds at Del Mar on Friday, preparing for what are expected to be two tough races at the Santa Anita autumn meeting.

Friday’s exercise was the first workout for Beholder since a second to California Chrome in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 20.

The champion older female of 2015, Beholder was second in two of the biggest races of the Del Mar summer meeting, losing the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares to Stellar Wind on July 30. In 2015, Beholder won the Hirsch and the Pacific Classic, becoming the first female to win the track’s only seven-figure race.

Friday’s workout was the first in a series to have Beholder ready for the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 1.

“This gets her back in the game,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “We’re going easy with her.”

Owned by B. Wayne Hughes, Beholder is expected to start in the Zenyatta and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 4. Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, is on the same schedule. Songbird, the nation’s leading 3-year-old filly, is another leading runner being prepared for the BC Distaff.

“It’s good racing coming up,” Mandella said.