ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder is back, finally, but it was not easy for the two-time champion filly. After an injury derailed her campaign in June, her summer recovery was far from seamless. Beholder’s campaign ended after a chunk of flesh was torn from her left hind pastern while she finished fourth in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont Park. Trainer Richard Mandella suspects it occurred when Beholder and eventual winner Close Hatches got tangled up. The wound on Beholder’s pastern, from foot to ankle, was deep. It was more serious than a superficial scrape. In the receiving barn after the Phipps, Beholder stood there, shaking her leg. It hurt. “I thought, God, is there a fracture?” Mandella said. “Her ankle joint is right there. She’s lucky she didn’t take her ankle off.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: See DRF’s top contenders Fortunately, there was no fracture. Unfortunately, there was no campaign. Beholder needed time to recover. Mandella targeted two races – the Grade 1 Zenyatta on Saturday, followed by the Breeders’ Cup. Both races are at Santa Anita, where Beholder won the BC Juvenile Fillies in 2012 and the BC Distaff in 2103. She was named a champion filly in both seasons. Beholder’s recovery initially progressed without incident. The injury scarred over and healed. All was good until a seven-furlong workout Aug. 25 at Del Mar. The work was fine, but on the way back to the barn, Beholder started acting silly. “Coming back, she was acting up, and she hit the scar and opened it up again,” Mandella said. “We had to put five stitches in it. She missed one week [of training].” The timing was not good. Autumn was bearing down. Beholder walked under tack for an hour in the morning and a half-hour in the evening. “Otherwise, we would have lost everything,” Mandella said. Less than two weeks later, Beholder returned to the tab. She worked six furlongs Sept. 6, one mile Sept. 13, and looked super while working seven furlongs Sept. 20. “She’s worked great,” Mandella said. “But it’s not been easy.” Beholder on Saturday will face two-time Grade 1 winner Iotapa in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes, the local prep for the BC Distaff on Oct. 31. Beholder, 9 for 14 with earnings of more than $3.1 million, will be ridden for the first time by Mike Smith, who replaces the sidelined Gary Stevens. Smith worked her Sunday and said she had improved since he worked her at Del Mar. Mandella expects the 4-year-old Beholder to return in top form. “I expect she could go right on where she left off,” he said. “I can’t imagine her not, by the way she is training.” ◗ Untapable, the winner of the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx last Saturday, already has arrived at Santa Anita with Steve Asmussen’s assistant trainer, Scott Blasi. Untapable was scheduled for her first trip to the racetrack early Wednesday. Her next start is the Distaff. ◗ Stopchargingmaria is scheduled to face older fillies and mares for the first time in the Grade 1 Beldame on Saturday at Belmont Park. Stopchargingmaria won the Grade 1 Alabama and Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks this summer at Saratoga. ◗ Close Hatches will run Oct. 5 at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Spinster. Close Hatches finished second behind Beholder in the 2013 Distaff. Close Hatches is 4 for 4 this year and the current Distaff favorite. ◗ Valiant Emilia, who is in the Distaff after winning a BC Challenge race in Peru on June 22, looked good Thursday while working five furlongs in company. Rafael Bejarano worked Valiant Emilia, who arrived in the United States in August and is now trained by Gary Mandella. Her next start is the Distaff.