Beholder looks formidable in Clement Hirsch
DEL MAR, Calif. – There are several indications that Beholder will be difficult to beat in Saturday’s $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar. About the only thing missing is pre-race bravado from trainer Richard Mandella.
“I’m not bragging too much until it’s over,” Mandella said. “I think she’ll do pretty good. I’d just like her to win.”
Beholder, the two-time champion, has not lost in nearly 14 months, a span of just three races. Illnesses kept her out of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita last November and the Grade 1 Vanity Stakes at Santa Anita in May. In the last two months, there have been no setbacks, as good an indication as any that Beholder deserves to be a heavy favorite in the Grade 1 Hirsch.
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The race is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Oct. 30. Beholder won the 2013 BC Distaff at Santa Anita, the year she was honored as the champion 3-year-old filly. In 2012, she won the BC Juvenile Fillies and was champion 2-year-old filly.
Despite those wins and a career record of 12 victories in 17 starts, Beholder has not scared away too many rivals from the Hirsch – at least not from the entries. The race drew a field of nine, with Beholder starting from the rail for the first time since the 2012 BC Juvenile Fillies.
Clement Hirsch, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Beholder (Last 3 Beyers: 98-98-99)
◗ Owned by B. Wayne Hughes, Beholder has not raced since winning the Grade 3 Adoration Stakes at Santa Anita on June 13. She has worked well in recent weeks and will be ridden by regular rider Gary Stevens on Saturday.
◗ Mandella said Beholder is likely to stalk the longshots Honey Ride and Yahilwa, who have shown speed in recent starts.
“There’s a couple in there with speed,” Mandella said. “She’ll rate off the speed, wherever she is comfortable.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Beholder. Trainer Richard Mandella is 27-10-4-3 with a $3.11 ROI over the past three years in dirt routes in Southern California following a layoff of 45 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Warren’s Veneda (Last 3 Beyers: 73-96-93)
◗ Warren’s Veneda won the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita in March for her third consecutive stakes win but has lost three subsequent starts. She was third in the Vanity, second to Beholder in the Adoration, and fourth in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at seven furlongs at Los Alamitos on July 11.
◗ Trainer Craig Lewis considered the Great Lady M. Stakes as little more than a tune-up for the Hirsch.
“The farther she goes, the better she is,” he said.
◗ This will be the second meeting between Beholder and Warren’s Veneda. They were separated by 1 1/4 lengths in the Adoration. Lewis is realistic about his chances but knows that beating Beholder is possible.
“If she can bring her ‘A’ game and Beholder stubs her toe, we’ve got a chance,” Lewis said. “It’s a monumental task.”
My Sweet Addiction (Last 3 Beyers: 32-95-89)
◗ My Sweet Addiction won the Vanity Stakes against three rivals but was last of nine in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 13 after a poor start. The break cost My Sweet Addiction any chance of making an impact, trainer Marty Jones said.
“She doesn’t like to be back early,” he said.
Still, Jones is hoping to see enough in the Clement Hirsch Stakes to plan for a return trip to Kentucky in the autumn.
“We’d like to run her in the Breeders’ Cup,” he said. “It’d be nice to get back on track.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Honey Ride and No. 5 Legacy. Trainer John Sadler is 16-7-0-2 with a $3.78 ROI over the past five years in dirt route graded stakes in Southern California in the second start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Thegirlinthatsong. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is 12-1-2-2 with a $0.71 ROI over the past five years in routes in Southern California following a layoff of 120 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan