Beholder calming down ahead of Classic

Beholder walked the shed row under tack Wednesday and was to return to the track the following morning, as trainer Richard Mandella reiterated that the champion's elevated temperature after arriving in Kentucky was due to shipping stress.

Beholder, who had additional blood work done and lung scans taken Wednesday, was able to walk the shed row during the afternoon under exercise rider Janeen Painter. She will return to the track to gallop Thursday as she begins final preparations for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

"I think I'm probably gonna gallop in the morning,” Mandella said. “I think we're back to normal."

Beholder missed two mornings of training this week after she was found to have a slightly elevated temperature Tuesday morning, one day after arriving in Kentucky. The 5-year-old mare's initial lung ultrasound and blood work came back clean, showing only a slightly elevated white-blood-cell count, indicating a stress response.

The mare was treated with a precautionary course of penicillin as well as Banamine to treat the temperature. Mandella said the mare's attitude had greatly improved by the afternoon, and the elevated temperature has not returned.

"She sounded good and all that [yesterday morning], but she was depressed," Mandella said. "She had her head hanging, which is not typical of her. She's usually pretty aggressive. By afternoon, we could hardly walk her, and the temperature had not returned. It's good right now. She's eating good, she's feeling good, but with horses, you have to be very respectful and worried about the chance of pneumonia [as a complication].”

Beholder was cross-entered when Breeders' Cup pre-entries were taken this week, with first preference in the Classic and second preference in the Distaff. Despite this week's mishap, Mandella said he is still targeting the Classic.

"I might be conservative and go the other way, but I don’t see it,” the trainer said.

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Beholder arrived in Lexington on Monday following a cross-country Tex Sutton flight from her California base. This marked just the third trip outside of California for Beholder, who finished second in the 2013 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs and fourth in the 2014 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park, emerging from the latter with a cut on her leg that kept her out of action for several months. Beholder is known to be high-strung, and Mandella believes the excitement of travel led to a stress response.

“She just got too worked up and too upset shipping,” Mandella said. “She just got too pumped and upset.”

Beholder missed last year's Breeders' Cup after spiking a fever several weeks before the race. That was a more serious illness, as lung inflammation necessitated two months of turnout before the mare was fully recovered.

“I thought we were out of the game when I first looked at her [Tuesday],” Mandella said. “Today, I think we’re back in the game.”