Cavalieri takes fourth consecutive win, earns first G1 triumph with Beholder Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. - To keep a perfect record after four starts, Cavalieri needed a career-best race to win Saturday’s Grade 1 B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.

Sent off favored in a field of six, Cavalieri tracked pacesetter and stablemate Richi to early stretch and could not get by her stubborn rival until the final strides, eventually winning by three-quarters of a length.

The first two finishers are trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Cavalieri ($4.20) was timed in 1:34.96, winning her debut at the highest level in the $300,500 Beholder Mile. Cavalieri has won two stakes. She earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 101 in the Beholder Mile.

“She’s getting better every time,” said Hernandez, who has been aboard the 4-year-old Cavalieri in each of her four wins.

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In the six-runner Beholder, Cavalieri stalked 3-1 Richi through a rapid pace of 22.56 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.24 for a half-mile. Richi led by a half-length for the first half-mile, an advantage that was briefly extended to a mile on the turn.

Hernandez said he urged Cavalieri toward the front when jockey Antonio Fresu did the same on Richi.

“I was riding so hard on the turn,” Hernandez said. “When I tried to make my move, he made his move, too.”

Cavalieri, Hernandez said, “gave me another gear at the eighth pole.”

Richi finished 5 3/4 lengths clear of 5-1 Tarifa, the winner of three Grade 2 stakes in 2024 as a 3-year-old for trainer Brad Cox. Tarifa had her 2025 debut in the Beholder Mile.

Hoosier Philly, a stakes winner at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Park in the last year, finished fourth, followed by Alpha Bella and Ultimate Authority.

Richi was a multiple Group 1 winner in Chile in 2023. The Beholder was her fourth start for Baffert and first start since a third in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 1. Fresu rode Richi for the first time on Saturday.

“I thought she ran really good, but she got beat by a better filly,” Fresu said.

Cavalieri races for the Speedway Stable of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner. A 4-year-old filly by Nyquist, Cavalieri was purchased for $900,000 at a 2-year-olds in-training sale in 2023. She has earned $318,000 since her career began at Del Mar last August.

Cavalieri won an allowance race at Santa Anita last October in her final start of 2024 and her 2025 debut in the Grade 2 La Canada Stakes at 1 1/16 miles. All of her races have been at a mile or 1 1/16 miles.

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