Beholder taking it slow toward 2016 return

ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder missed the finish of the racing season, but she will not miss 2016. The two-time champion, unbeaten in 2015, will return to Santa Anita in mid-January to prepare for a 6-year-old campaign that ideally will conclude in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.

Beholder scratched from the 2015 BC Classic at Keeneland after she bled in a routine gallop days before. She currently is stabled at Peacefield Farm in Temecula, 70 miles southeast of Santa Anita.

Trainer Richard Mandella is in no rush to crank her up.

“The plan is to bring her in in mid-January, X-ray her lungs, scan them again, and make sure she’s looking good,” Mandella said.

Pending results, Beholder will resume light training with Mandella at Santa Anita or with Julie Adair-Stack at a layup facility in nearby Chino.

Mandella said Beholder’s first major target could be the Vanity at Santa Anita, which was run last year in early May. Beholder began her 2014 and 2015 campaigns in April at Santa Anita, winning the Santa Lucia Stakes each time.

Beholder will not be ready for the Grade 1, $500,000 Santa Margarita on March 19.

“I don’t have time to get ready for that,” Mandella said. “I’d have to rush, and I don’t want to do that.”

Beholder won all five starts in 2015, including a smashing victory in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar that was the highlight of the California season. Owned by B. Wayne Hughes’ Spendthrift Farm, Beholder has won 15 races and $4,436,600 from 20 starts. She has won 10 of 11 starts at Santa Anita, where the 2016 Breeders’ Cup will be held.