Zenyatta win puts Beholder back on track

ARCADIA, Calif. – The comeback victory by Beholder on Saturday at Santa Anita was not the most impressive of her career. It did not need to be.

Racing for the first time in 112 days, Beholder won the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes by three-quarters of a length to re-establish herself as a top contender for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Beholder earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

“It’s going to put her right where she ought to be,” trainer Richard Mandella said a day later. “She looks like a million bucks. That ought to put her in perfect shape.”

Beholder was racing for the first time since she was injured June 7 at Belmont Park. In late August, she reopened the wound on her hind pastern, missed a week of training, and was on a tight schedule to make the Zenyatta.

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“We didn’t go to the track for a week, and then boom-boom,” Mandella said, describing her quick recovery and subsequent works. “You couldn’t do that with a normal horse.”

Beholder is not normal. A two-time Breeders’ Cup winner and two-time champion, Beholder is a 10-time winner of more than $3.3 million from 15 starts. Still, there was concern going into her comeback.

“That was a big obstacle,” Mandella said. “When they get hurt like that, you never know if they’ll try as hard when they come back.”

The win makes Beholder the co-second favorite for the Distaff, according to Daily Racing Form odds. Beholder and the 3-year-old Untapable are 3-1. Close Hatches, the 5-2 favorite, runs Sunday in the Grade 1 Spinster over the new dirt surface at Keeneland.

Third-place finisher Iotapa, a front-runner, broke slowly in the Zenyatta and was unable to recover. She finished third by four lengths. It remains unclear if Iotapa is able to compete with the elite of the division, and her early DRF odds rose to 12-1.

Regarding the Distaff, trainer John Sadler said Sunday, “She’s still going.”

A Distaff longshot emerged from the Zenyatta. Tough Tiz’s Sis, an allowance filly making her first start in a graded stakes, finished second while earning a 98 Beyer. Tough Tiz’s Sis is 20-1.

“She’s a big filly, she’s maturing at the right time,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “Right now, we’re looking at the Breeders’ Cup. I think she definitely earned her way there.”

Belle Gallantey won the Grade 1 Beldame by more than eight lengths Saturday at Belmont Park, but her Distaff status is undetermined. Owner Mike Dubb told DRF that plans are “up in the air.”

Belle Gallantey earned a career-best 103 Beyer in the Beldame and is listed by DRF at 15-1.

A decision on Beldame runner-up Stopchargingmaria will not be made for “a couple weeks,” according to trainer Todd Pletcher.