May 9th marks the day that Beholder was brought into the world and the legacy began. She blessed us with another gift yesterday when easily winning the G3 Adoration Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Her first start since September of 2015, she did not disappoint. Beholder had an outside stalking trip before moving up in the back stretch to sit on the flank of the leader and taking over at the top of the home stretch. She drew away under a mild hand ride by jockey Gary Stevens to win by 2 ½ lengths.

Santa Anita Park announcer Michael Wrona summed it up best as she moved past the wire, stating “the racing world is full of adoration for this wonderful mare who’s ageing like a fine wine.”

After sickness knocked her out of the Breeders’ Cup Classic showdown with American Pharoah last year, owner Mr. Hughes decided to bring the filly back for the 2016 season. She spent some time off at Julie Adair-Stack’s farm in California before returning to trainer Richard Mandella’s barn.

We at Spendthrift are incredibly thankful for this mare who is now on a seven race win streak stretching back to 2014 and has 16 wins from 21 lifetime starts with earnings of just under $4.5 million. There’s no “I” in team and luckily for us, the big team that surrounds Beholder is quite amazing and has kept her sound and able to perform at the top level for five consecutive years. We are looking forward to what the big mare has in store for us in her 2016 campaign.