Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Champion mare Beholder will not make her
season debut in next Friday’s Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park.
The 5-year-old had a disappointing workout Thursday at Santa Anita and Hall of
Fame trainer Richard Mandella will hold her out of the 1 1/16-mile Apple
Blossom.
“I was kind of half-thinking of going to Oaklawn,” Mandella said, “but now I’m
going to back down a little bit and point to the Vanity.”
Beholder worked seven furlongs, with Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, in
1:26.80.
Beholder, owned by Spendthrift Farm, spiked a fever last October that forced
her to be withdrawn from defending her title in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She
won the 2013 Distaff by 4 1/4 lengths over Close Hatches, a finalist for 2014
champion Older Female.
The mare, champion 2-year-old filly of 2012 and 2013 champion 3-year-old
filly, won her second straight Zenyatta Stakes on Sept. 27 at Santa Anita. She
has won 10 of 15 starts, including the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies,
for $3,368,300.
