Oaks Contender: Beholder

A filly has not won both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) and Kentucky Oaks (GI) since Silverbulletday completed the feat in 1999. Last year, only one filly that contested in the Juvenile Fillies even ran in the Oaks. But this year, champion two-year-old filly Beholder – who captured the premier race for female juveniles – will compete for the garland of lilies.

Beholder
Photo by Terri Cage

Fourth in her debut behind future grade one winner and rival Executiveprivilege, Beholder broke her maiden in the midst of the Del Mar meet, capturing a five and one-half-furlong maiden special weight by an easy 3 ¼ lengths. Entering grade one company for her third start, Beholder again lost to Executiveprivilege – this time by just a nose in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (GI). The Richard Mandella trainee had given the undefeated filly the biggest test of her career to date.

After an 11-length demolition of a six-furlong allowance over the dirt at Santa Anita, Beholder’s connections pondered whether the filly should run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint against males, or the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) – in which she would face stiffer competition and go the longest distance she had raced at yet.

They chose the Juvenile Fillies. Turning the tables on Executiveprivilege, Beholder led from start to finish prior to digging deep in the homestretch to repel her rival’s rally, winning by one length in a thrilling display of determination.

Making her sophomore debut in the Santa Ynez Stakes (GII), Beholder sat off the pace and despite garnering a narrow advantage around the far turn, Beholder struggled to outduel a rival down the lane and was overtaken in the final stages of the race, finishing second.

But the champion did not stay away from the winner’s enclosure for long. In her subsequent start, the Las Virgenes Stakes (GI) – which has been won by a pair of Kentucky Oaks winners in the past six years –, Beholder returned to setting the pace, receiving an easy trip around the track to win by a commanding 3 ¾ lengths. Going a mile and one-sixteenth for the first time since the Breeders’ Cup, Beholder made her final prep for the Kentucky Oaks in the Santa Anita Oaks (GI), in which she again was given an easy lead, winning the grade one event by 2 ¾ lengths.

It is no secret that Beholder is a speedy filly, but can she hold that speed over nine furlongs? Her pedigree suggests she can.

Beholder's pedigree
From pedigreequery.com

Beholder is a daughter of brilliant sprinter Henny Hughes, who never won beyond seven furlongs. As a sire, he has primarily produced sprinters, although he has sired Welcome Dance – a stakes winner at nine furlongs, the distance of the Oaks. Henny Hughes is a son of Hennessy – another horse who excelled at short distances. But Hennessy produced many distance horses, including Silver Tree – a graded stakes winner that was victorious up to ten furlongs; Inglorious – a classic winner at ten furlongs; Half Hennessy – a group one winner at 2,400 meters (about twelve furlongs); Wiseman’s Ferry – a graded stakes winner at nine furlongs; Orchard Park – a graded stakes winner that won up to ten furlongs; and Toasted – a graded stakes winner that won up to eleven furlongs. Hennessy is a son of the late, great sire Storm Cat, who produced many distance horses, including After Market, Bluegrass Cat, Cat Thief, Giant’s Causeway, Good Reward, Storm Flag Flying, and Tabasco Cat.

Stemming from a rich female family, Beholder is out of the black-type-winning Leslie’s Lady, who has also produced Into Mischief – a grade one winner that has sired 2013 Kentucky Derby (GI) contenders Goldencents and Vyjack. Leslie’s Lady is a daughter of Tricky Creek – a graded stakes winner at nine furlongs.

The granddam of Beholder is sired by Stop the Music, who won the Dwyer Stakes when it was contested at ten furlongs. A son of champion Hail to Reason, Stop the Music sired an abundance of distance horses, including Alla Breva, Missy’s Mirage, Sing Sing, and Temperence Hill. The filly’s fourth dam is a daughter of the great Sea-Bird II, who is considered one of the best Thoroughbred racehorses to ever live. Sea-Bird II – or simply Sea Bird – won many prestigious distance races, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (GI) and the Epsom Derby (GI).

Beholder’s fifth dam is the multiple stakes-winning Patelin, a charm to have in a horse’s tail female line. The black mare was a daughter of the Reine de Course mare Pontivy and thus a direct descendant of the additional Reine de Course mares Golden Apple, Lou Lanier, and Thorn Apple, as well as the influential British-bred mare Gallopade. Kentucky Derby victor I’ll Have Another, too, is a direct descendant of Pontivy through Patelin, as he and Beholder share the same dam line beginning with their fourth dam. Triple Crown winner Affirmed and Derby winner Mine That Bird also descend from the Gallopade line.

The Kentucky Oaks field has shaped up to be an incredibly competitive race, featuring numerous very talented fillies. Which one will take home the lilies is a gamble, but it is no secret that Beholder is among the classiest competitors in the race.

Beholder winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
Photo by Terri Cage

Juvenile Spotlight: Top Tier Lass and Corail

Todd Pletcher is often crowned the king of two-year-olds at Saratoga. This was further confirmed on both Monday and Wednesday, when two of his juvenile fillies broke their maidens in impressive style: Top Tier Lass and Corail. Both fillies traveled five and one-half furlongs – though over different surfaces – at the Spa, joining many two-year-olds trained by Todd Pletcher to break their maiden at Saratoga in impressive style.


Top Tier Lass

Following a clean break, Top Tier Lass was among a four-horse group that immediately went to the lead. Racing on the outside, the chestnut filly remained among the cluster of the leaders but did not take the lead until shortly after they set an initial quarter of 22 seconds flat. She continued to draw away from there, holding a one-length advantage at the top of the stretch.

Despite rallies from others, Top Tier Lass was not threatened by her rivals as John Velazquez urged her down the stretch. Though she received several reminders from Velazquez, Top Tier Lass had no trouble crossing the wire seven lengths in front. The final time over the grass course labeled good was 1:03.34.

Top Tier Lass is a member of Street Boss’s first crop. On the track, Street Boss – a horse based in Southern California – was a spectacular sprinter, winning three graded stakes – three of which were grade ones – and setting two six-furlong track records. Street Boss is of course a son of Street Cry, a top sire known for producing the great champion Zenyatta, as well as the champion Street Sense and eleven other grade one winners. Street Boss has already proven to be a productive sire in his young career, having already sired not only multiple winners, but a stakes winner.

This filly’s dam, Top Tier, is a half-sister to not only two black-type winners and a stakes-placed runner, but the multiple graded stakes-placed Stopshoppingmaria. In addition to producing Top Tier Lass, Top Tier is the dam of the winners Personal Signal and Show Place. Neither of those horses has won beyond a mile and one-sixteenth.

Top Tier’s broodmare sire is King of Kings, an Irish champion who won the first leg of the English Triple Crown, the 2,000 Guineas (GI), at one mile. King of Kings is a son of the great Sadlers Wells, one of the greatest stallions the industry has ever seen. Sadlers Wells is the damsire of such horses as the group one winners Conduit, Henrythenavigator, Reliable Man, Workforce, and Youmzain.

Top Tier Lass certainly is bred like a speedy turf horse, but could also have a future on surfaces other than grass. Of course, she could go farther than five and a half furlongs, but she definitely is not a classic-distance type of filly. However, this filly displayed in her debut that she is clearly talented and one to keep an eye on.


Corail

Two years ago, a juvenile Thoroughbred sired by Indian Charlie and trained by Pletcher dominated a maiden at Saratoga prior to finishing a two-year-old campaign that saw him be honored as Champion Two-Year-Old Male. That horse was Uncle Mo. On Wednesday, yet another Todd Pletcher-trained Indian Charlie broke it's maiden. This time, however, it was a filly by the name of Corail.

After breaking from the gate, the bay filly went straight to the lead in Wertheimer and Frere's silks – the same silks Goldikova carried to Breeders' Cup Mile (GI) victory three years in a row. She steadily lengthened her lead, holding a one-length advantage as the fillies began to enter the far turn. Following a quarter in 23.16, John Velazquez looked behind him to check the advancement of the others, but found that no one was yet posing a real threat. 

Velazquez began to shake his reins as the curve ended, urging the filly beneath him. Liquid Lunch attempted to rally, but with a strike of the whip, Corail accelerated and began to draw away from the field as Velazquez continued to give her reminders. With ease, Corail flashed under the wire 3 ½ lengths in front, posting a final time of 1:04.52.

Indian Charlie, who was sadly euthanized in December, is also the sire of the champions Fleet Indian and Indian Blessing, as well as such grade one winners as Liaison and Pampered Princess. Indian Charlie has primarily been a sire of speedy horses, but Fleet Indian was capable of winning at ten furlongs.

Corail's dam, Meteor Miracle, is a black-type-winning half-sister to the grade one winners A Phenomenon and Seattle Meteor. In addition to producing Corail, Meteor Miracle has yielded Meteore, who won the La Jolla Handicap (GII) over Del Mar's turf course in 2009. Meteor Miracle is a daughter of Forty Niner's graded stakes-winning son Twining. Forty Niner was a successful broodmare sire himself, having sired the dams of such grade one winners as Albertus Maximus, Island Sand, and Lady of Venice.

Interestingly, Corail's third dam, Patelin, is Kentucky Derby (GI) and Preakness Stakes (GI) victor I'll Have Another's fifth dam. Patelin, a stakes-winning daughter of the Reine De Course mare Pontivy, was a half-sister to the multiple stakes-winning horses Jaikyl and Pontiflex, as well as the graded stakes-placed Pontoise. Other direct descendants of Patelin include the grade/group one winners Class Play and Reenact.

Though there are traces of stamina in Corail's pedigree, she, like stablemate Top Tier Lass, appears to be more suited for distances under nine furlongs. She is among many talented two-year-olds in Pletchers barn and will need to prove that she can be competitive against tougher company, but she is without a doubt a gifted filly.