Beholder sets sights on Pacific Classic

DEL MAR, Calif. – Beholder may have outgrown her female counterparts this summer.

A day after Beholder’s convincing win in the $300,750 Clement Hirsch Stakes, trainer Richard Mandella reiterated Sunday the two-time champion will be considered for the $1 million Pacific Classic against males Aug. 22 at Del Mar.

Mandella mentioned the Pacific Classic in the winner’s circle after the Hirsch and said Sunday the 5-year-old mare’s condition in coming weeks will determine a course of action.

“It’s only three weeks,” Mandella said. “She may not look like she’s ready for it in three weeks. She is a filly, and we have to consider that.”

Owned by B. Wayne Hughes, Beholder won the Grade 1 Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles by seven lengths, closing from third under jockey Gary Stevens to take control of the race in early stretch.

Mandella considers Beholder to be the finest female he has trained in his 40-year career.

“She is something else,” he said.

Beholder has won 13 of 18 starts and earned $3,656,600. The Hirsch was her 11th stakes win. She won Eclipse Awards as the outstanding 2-year-old filly of 2012 and outstanding 3-year-old filly of 2013. A start in the Pacific Classic would be her first against males and first at 1 1/4 miles.

If Beholder runs, she will be the fifth female to start in a race first run in 1991. Paseana was the first to do so and had the best performance, finishing fifth of seven as the 8-5 favorite behind Missionary Ridge in 1992. Paseana was the champion older female of 1992 and 1993.

In 2005, the 5-year-old mare Island Fashion finished ninth of 11 in the Pacific Classic behind Borrego. In 2012, the 4-year-old filly Amani finished sixth of 10 behind Dullahan. In 2013, the 4-year-old filly Byrama finished seventh of 12 behind Game On Dude.

Mandella said if Beholder does not run in the Pacific Classic, she is unlikely to race again until the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 26.

The $750,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29 is doubtful to avoid two cross-country journeys in coming months. Mandella plans to run Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

“I’m reluctant to ship her there and to the Breeders’ Cup,” he said of a trip to Saratoga.

The Pacific Classic is a possibility for Warren’s Veneda, who was third in the Clement Hirsch, closing from last in the final three furlongs. Trainer Craig Lewis was frustrated that the pace of the Hirsch was not fast and that Warren’s Veneda raced in traffic on the turn.

“It looked like there would be a good pace, and there wasn’t one,” Lewis said. “I think if she had gotten clear, she might have been second.”

Warren’s Veneda, a 5-year-old mare who won the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita in March, also will be considered for the $200,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs in Washington on Aug. 16, Lewis said.

Yahilwa, who finished second in the Hirsch, is bound for the Personal Ensign, owner Deron Pearson said. Yahilwa won the Grade 3 Sixty Sails Handicap at Hawthorne Racecourse, near Chicago, on April 18.