Beholder impresses clockers with ease of work

ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder has not raced since last fall, when she got sick at Keeneland just before an intended start against American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Given plenty of time to recover, she is now making serious headway toward a return to action, and that return seemed a lot closer after her workout at Santa Anita on Friday.

Beholder, working right after the 7:45 a.m. renovation break, went a half-mile in 48.40 seconds under jockey Gary Stevens, who never asked her a bit, prompting Santa Anita’s clockers to term her work “breezing,” a designation rarely given out in California. Of the 154 works at Santa Anita on Friday, hers was the only one that was labeled breezing.

Though it was not planned, Beholder broke off about 15 lengths behind the multiple stakes winner No Silent, trained by Gary Mandella. That gave her a target, but they were not working in company.

Richard Mandella, who trains Beholder, had her going a half-mile in 48 seconds and galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.80.

“She couldn’t look much better at this point,” Mandella said.

Mandella has said the Grade 1, $400,000 Vanity Mile at Santa Anita on June 4 is an intended target for Beholder, but if she continues to progress the way she worked Friday, she will be ready before early June.

“We’ll see how it’s going,” Mandella said. “She’s looking pretty nice.”

Beholder, 6, is a three-time Eclipse Award winner and two-time Breeders’ Cup winner. She has won 15 of 20 starts, including 10 of her last 11, and owns nine Grade 1 victories. She is a certain Hall of Famer when eligible five years after her racing career ends.