Beholder owns tactical advantage in Ogden Phipps

LMONT, N.Y. – This is the kind of East vs. West race that normally has to wait until the fall. Beholder has been sent here from California by her dead-game owner, B. Wayne Hughes, to challenge the two best fillies in the East in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, one of the many riveting stakes on the spectacular Belmont Stakes card Saturday at Belmont Park.

“This is the kind of matchup everybody in the sport loves to see, including us,” said Richard Mandella, who trains Beholder for Hughes’s Spendthrift Farm. “Wayne is a sportsman, no doubt. We’re glad to be here and just hoping the filly runs her race.”

::2014 BELMONT STAKES UNDERCARD: Latest news, video, PPs, and more

If Beholder, already a two-time champion, does run her race in the $1 million Phipps, her five opponents could be in trouble. As for tactics in the one-turn, 1 1/16-mile race, Beholder figures to have clear sailing from post 5. Her Hall of Fame jockey, Gary Stevens, is optimistic that he will get a good trip, as he should have plenty of flexibility with no outside encumbrance. One of the primary rivals, Close Hatches, has excellent early speed and is drawn in post 1.

“Being outside of Close Hatches and a couple of those other speeds, my filly should be able to sit in a nice spot,” Stevens said.

Close Hatches, with Joel Rosario to ride, has come to peak form this year for Bill Mott, having cruised to front-running, back-to-back wins in the Grade 2 Azeri and Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. The 4-year-old Close Hatches ran well as the runner-up behind Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff last fall at Santa Anita.

::DRF Live: Get real-time reports and handicapping insights from Belmont all day Saturday

When the real running begins Saturday, with the three longshots in the race unlikely to keep pace with Close Hatches and Beholder, it’s quite possible that that pair could become engaged in a sustained duel. If so, then a well-timed move by the other favorite in the race, the locally based Princess of Sylmar, could see her looming a major threat in the final furlong.

Princess of Sylmar, whose clunker in the BC Distaff ended an otherwise brilliant 3-year-old season, will have Javier Castellano aboard when breaking from post 6. Owned by the King of Prussia Stable of Ed Stanco, the chestnut Pennsylvania-bred Princess of Sylmar has had one easy prep victory among a series of sharp workouts since a winter freshening.

“Everything’s fallen into place,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “This is the program we set up when we first saw the Phipps was on this day. We were probably going to run in the Phipps regardless of when it was. It was our plan to run once, and it didn’t matter to me if it was six, seven, eight weeks before. I wanted her to be fresh for this. We got a race under her belt, and she’s trained very well. We trained her with this race in mind, and she’s hopefully fit enough to be able to run her ‘A’ race.

“I wouldn’t anticipate that Beholder is not going to run her race here. We know Close Hatches has succeeded here as well. I’m not sure the one-turn dynamics are Princess of Sylmar’s best, but she was able to beat Royal Delta doing it last year” in the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont. “I like the post. We’ll see what happens; it should be interesting.”

The three favorites each carry 123 pounds. Beholder is listed as the 7-5 morning-line favorite, with Princess of Sylmar at 9-5 and Close Hatches at 5-2. The rest of the field is Antipathy (post 2, Irad Ortiz Jr., 30-1), Belle of Gallantey (post 3, Jose Ortiz, 30-1), and Classic Point (post 4, Alex Solis, 20-1).

Classic Point, trained by the legendary Allen Jerkens, might be the best of the rest. The 5-year-old Classic Point has a solid record here, with 3 wins and 2 seconds from 10 Belmont starts.

The Ogden Phipps is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Oct. 31 at Santa Anita. The Phipps serves as the midway point of the 13-race card as the seventh race, with post time set for 3:14 p.m. Eastern. The race is named for the late iconic horse breeder and owner whose family’s black and cherry silks are among the best known in all of racing. Last year, the race was run on Memorial Day and was won by Tiz Miz Sue.

– additional reporting by David Grening