Hovdey: Beholder elbows into the conversation

It seems sacrilegious, what with American Pharoah both on the overnight for the Travers and in the air heading eastward as this is typed. It has become an unwritten rule among racing writers that whenever the Triple Crown winner goes forth, any story worth its keystrokes must begin and end with Pharoah’s every twitch and nicker, otherwise it will be read by exactly no one.

But what’s this? Another horse worth following, complete with a second story line on a possible collision course with the American Pharoah fairy tale? It seems unlikely since it was only a few weeks ago that the plot began to thicken. And yet there is no ignoring what the 5-year-old mare Beholder did to the million-dollar Pacific Classic last weekend at Del Mar, and what it could mean about the national profile of the game.

Four days is simply not enough time to savor Beholder’s performance. It was the kind of show, when viewed from all possible angles, that keeps revealing more satisfying moments. Time is tight, however, and American Pharoah’s plane is on approach. So, before he lands, here are a few lingering takeaways from the most significant West Coast race of the season.

Historically, Beholder joined an exclusive list of older females who have taken down major California races for all comers. Two Lea’s victory in the 1952 Hollywood Gold Cup is bookended by Zenyatta’s inhalation of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic. In between can be found names like La Zanzara, Typecast, Estrapade, Royal Heroine, Gay Style, Dulcia, Dahlia, Princessnesian, Bug Brush, and Pink Pigeon. They all neutralized the idea that gender mattered at all.

Emotionally, Beholder has given a lift to the star-starved California season that has unfolded as basically a backdrop to American Pharoah’s training. Smarter marketing minds than mine are still trying to figure out why the Pacific Classic card drew only 20,000 or so fans the other day. But given the big-event mentality of the modern sports fan, perhaps a race without American Pharoah wasn’t worth the effort. After all, he was eligible, and he lives there.

From a technical standpoint, Beholder’s 8 1/4-length winning margin was one of those physical displays that required seeing to be believed. There have been similar romps on tricky wet tracks. The best 2- and 3-year-olds occasionally separate themselves from their contemporaries in such a bold fashion. But this was a mare who had never raced against males, and the males she was facing were good enough to win every major West Coast race this year that did not include Shared Belief.

“Knowing she’d never gone a mile and a quarter before, you always wondered how she’d take it,” said Gary Stevens, the man along for the ride. “In fact, what she did was gallop along that much farther, saving herself for that same point on the track where she has been trained to make her move. It didn’t matter how far she had to go to get there. She wasn’t using herself at all.”

At which point she made what Del Mar old-timers someday will refer to as “The Move.” Bayern and Midnight Storm were spent on the final turn anyway, but when Beholder raced past them with Stevens sitting like a statue, a chill went through the crowd as if they’d just witnessed gunfire.

“Here comes Beholder,” warned Trevor Denman, his voice jumping at the sight. “And Beholder breezing on by. Beholder strikes the front – Gary Stevens hasn’t moved!”

Stevens concurred.

“She did it on her own,” he insisted. “Believe me, it wasn’t my idea.”

It was, as Denman proclaimed, “almost impossible to believe.” Ignited, the crowd was treated to a very American Pharoah-like panorama through the stretch of a superior horse elevating itself from the hard-boiled realities of a conventional contest. Up in the stands, a weak-kneed Richard Mandella let the fan inside him appreciate the moment before recovering with one of his typical dry lines.

“I knew she was good,” the trainer said. “But I didn’t know she was that good.”

Stevens, who knows you don’t get paid by the winning margin, was almost apologetic. Almost.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking her for a little test drive,” the rider cracked in Mandella’s direction.

Later, when Beholder was back at her barn after taking her own sweet time to test, Mandella was still in a dizzy state.

“I don’t know if it’s old age or what, but I found myself getting a little emotional there today,” he said. “What she did moved me to tears.”

Mandella was merely channeling one of his true heroes, Allen Jerkens, the man who introduced Mandella at his Hall of Fame induction. Jerkens died last winter after a lifetime of training horses to do great things, but if he had been anywhere near Beholder last Saturday, he would have wept like a grandmother. He also would have appreciated what Mandella did to help make it happen, since, as Jerkens would tell you, they don’t train themselves.

“Notice that I never would work her more than three-quarters or seven-eighths, but before her last race, I worked her a good mile,” the trainer said, referring to the Clement L. Hirsch three weeks prior to the Classic. “I wanted her to be really fit for that one so the race wouldn’t take much out of her, just in case I wanted to try something like the Classic.”

In the immediate aftermath of the Classic, Mandella was peppered with questions about an American Pharoah-Beholder showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31. Mandella’s mantra was, “Right now, I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this one.” But reading between the lines was easy. If Beholder could do this …