Beholder Scratched Out of BC Classic

Beholder Scratched Out of BC Classic Oct 29, 2015 11:13:23 GMT -5

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Post by cait on Oct 29, 2015 11:13:23 GMT -5

Beholder Scratched Out of BC Classic
By Ron Mitchell
Bloodhorse

Trainer Richard Mandella said two-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder will not run in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). When Spendthrift Farm's star was scoped after galloping on the Keeneland training track the morning of Oct. 29, it was discovered the mare had bled.

The 5-year-old daughter of Henny Hughes had developed a fever after her arrival in Kentucky from California.

"And with that we've obviously got some irritated lungs that are vulnerable right now, and we will not take the chance to run her under those circumstances," Mandella said during a mid-morning press conference that included other trainers.

"There's obviously some irritated lung tissue there," he said. "She will be fine, but if I put her under the pressure of a race situation, it could cause some real damage. This was obviously due to the fever she had when she arrived. You could say we just haven't had any luck shipping, but it's been something different every time. She's an aggressive mare and just got herself worked up shipping and made herself sick."

The defection of Spendthrift Farm's Beholder ends a highly anticipated showdown between the mare and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

"It's sad," Mandella said. "It's exciting to take on a challenge like this. It's still a great race. I just wish I was part of it."

After the fever was detected, the connections kept a close eye on Beholder. Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said they noticed a small amount of blood after scoping her following her five-furlong breeze in :59 2/5 Oct. 26 at Keeneland.

"After the breeze the other day there was just a touch of blood," Toffey said. "We thought that with that little bit of blood that it was residual from the fever. We were cautiously optimistic."

Toffey said they continued to keep a close eye on Beholder and after she was scoped Thursday, the decision was easy.

"Obviously with that going on you don't want to put her through the stress of a race," Toffey said. "The good news is that we still have a really nice mare and our hope is to try to bring her back to race."

Mandella said plans call for Beholder, who has 15 wins, including two Breeders' Cup victories, from 20 starts and earnings in excess of $4.4 million to run in 2016.

Beholder Scratched Out of BC Classic Oct 29, 2015 21:40:30 GMT -5

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Post by Evelyn on Oct 29, 2015 21:40:30 GMT -5

I don't agree with him. I'm sorry Beholder's not racing but I don't think she was going to win. Nor do I think Am P is a lock. And I certainly don't agree with his "sex" comment LOL It's a horse race, not a date!

BC Classic not the same race
Bill Finley
ESPN

There's certainly nothing wrong with a $5 million horse race that includes a Triple Crown winner, the horse who beat the Triple Crown winner, a Belmont Stakes and two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, a four-time Group 1 winner out of Europe and the Met Mile and Whitney champion. But let's not kid ourselves. The announcement Thursday that Beholder was being withdrawn from the Breeders' Cup Classic due to a bleeding issue was a huge blow to the race and to the day. The race went from the most widely anticipated racetrack showdown in over 20 years to just another really good race.

I thought Beholder was going to win. I don't like the fact that American Pharoah is coming into the Classic off his worst performance as a 3-year-old, his second-place finish in the Travers. But this was more a case of my being dazzled by Beholder. Her win over males in the Pacific Classic was electric, the type of performance you see from a top horse once every decade or so. She wasn't quite as good when she won the Zenyatta Stakes just a month later, but she didn't have to be. It was a tune-up race for the Classic, and she did exactly what she had to do, win while leaving plenty in the tank.

But the outcome of the Classic was far from certain. This was going to be Ali vs. Frazier, Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, a battle between unbeatables that was going to settle supremacy where it's supposed to be settled in this game, on the racetrack. That one of the two giants was a giantess made the storyline all that more compelling. Now we have American Pharoah against a "solid group" of horses, not a very sexy storyline.

There's certainly nothing wrong with a $5 million horse race that includes a Triple Crown winner, the horse who beat the Triple Crown winner, a Belmont Stakes and two-time Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, a four-time Group 1 winner out of Europe and the Met Mile and Whitney champion. But let's not kid ourselves. The announcement Thursday that Beholder was being withdrawn from the Breeders' Cup Classic due to a bleeding issue was a huge blow to the race and to the day. The race went from the most widely anticipated racetrack showdown in over 20 years to just another really good race.

I thought Beholder was going to win. I don't like the fact that American Pharoah is coming into the Classic off his worst performance as a 3-year-old, his second-place finish in the Travers. But this was more a case of my being dazzled by Beholder. Her win over males in the Pacific Classic was electric, the type of performance you see from a top horse once every decade or so. She wasn't quite as good when she won the Zenyatta Stakes just a month later, but she didn't have to be. It was a tune-up race for the Classic, and she did exactly what she had to do, win while leaving plenty in the tank.

But the outcome of the Classic was far from certain. This was going to be Ali vs. Frazier, Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, a battle between unbeatables that was going to settle supremacy where it's supposed to be settled in this game, on the racetrack. That one of the two giants was a giantess made the storyline all that more compelling. Now we have American Pharoah against a "solid group" of horses, not a very sexy storyline.

For her, the good news is that the 2016 Breeders' Cup will be in her backyard at Santa Anita and she won't have to do any more than walk a few hundred yards from her stall. Trainer Richard Mandella has already said his mare will be back next year at 6 and, presumably, the Classic will again be a major goal. But it just won't be the same. American Pharoah isn't sticking around for next year, and the odds that the Classic will include a freshly minted Triple Crown winner are astronomical.

That doesn't mean this won't be a fun, exciting Breeders' Cup. Really, there's no such thing as a bad Breeders' Cup. But it could have been so much more. American Pharoah versus Beholder, Triple Crown winner versus a filly for the ages, is as good as it gets -- overtime in the Super Bowl, bases loaded, two outs, game tied in the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the World Series. Now we've got a "really good horse race." How disappointing.