Mandella mulls options for Beholder

DEL MAR, Calif. – Beholder, who scored a dazzling victory against males in the Pacific Classic on Saturday, pulled up “better than I did,” trainer Richard Mandella said at his Del Mar barn on Sunday morning.

“That was very, very exciting,” Mandella said. “She came out of the race in great shape. We went to the Rancho Valencia after the race. I had a drink called the Bourbon Beast that I found very interesting.”

There is interest, too, in where Beholder goes next. Mandella said the Grade 1 Zenyatta, exclusively for females, at Santa Anita on Sept. 26, is the most-obvious spot to run Beholder next; she has won it the last two years. As for whether Beholder then goes to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, or tries males again in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, “we’ll take it one step at a time,” Mandella said.

“But there are a lot more windows open here today,” Mandella said.

Beholder became the first female to win the Pacific Classic in its 25 years. She won in a romp, by 8 1/4 lengths, and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 114, the highest figure assigned to any horse this year.

“I was expecting a little more,” Mandella said, joking.

“Seriously, you couldn’t expect that,” he said. “She exceeded what I expected.”

Mandella said Beholder was tired on Sunday morning after acting “last night like she could run again right then.”

“She stays pumped up right after the race,” Mandella said. “Today, she’s a little deflated. But she’ll recover quickly.”

Mandella did not rule out skipping the Zenyatta and coming into the Breeders’ Cup fresh, saying the Zenyatta would be the spot to run “if it looks like it’s needed” in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup.

“There’s a little more than a month until the Zenyatta,” he said. “That’s a good possibility. I haven’t thought much of anything beyond that. She’ll have a warm-up shot, then the big dance.”

Mandella, a Hall of Famer, has won the Dubai World Cup with Pleasantly Perfect, and won a record four Breeders’ Cup races in one day. But he said Beholder’s win was as memorable as any in his career.

“As a single race – I know it’s not as much money as Dubai – but it was right up there,” he said. “We were reaching. We didn’t know what to expect. It could be that she didn’t want a mile and a quarter. But I felt about as confident as I ever did. I had fun going into the race instead of worrying and sweating.

“It was exciting. It was a fun thing to do.”