Beholder (USA)
May 9, 2010 – Living
Henny Hughes (USA) x Leslie's Lady (USA), by Tricky Creek (USA)
Family 23-b
May 9, 2010 – Living
Henny Hughes (USA) x Leslie's Lady (USA), by Tricky Creek (USA)
Family 23-b
If horses had theme songs, Beholder's would be “California Girls.” While she never won outside the Golden State, the daughter of Henny Hughes compiled a sterling record within it and especially at her favorite track, Santa Anita. She was a Grade 1 winner every year that she raced and is a member of an elite group of American racehorses that have earned championships in four different years. While a planned start in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) had to be aborted due to illness, Beholder remained in training in 2016 and concluded her racing career with a dramatic victory over the splendid 3-year-old filly Songbird in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1).
Race record
26 starts, 18 wins, 6 seconds, 0 thirds, US$6,056,600
2012:
2013:
2014:
2015:
2016
Honors
Assessments
Highweighted at 123 pounds among juvenile fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2012.
Rated at 121 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2003, 9 pounds below co-highweights Black Caviar (the 2012/2013 Australian Horse of the Year) and Treve (the 2013 European Horse of the Year) but tops among fillies and mares on dirt.
Rated at 117 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2014, 13 pounds below top-weighted Just a Way and 9 pounds below the top filly or mare, Treve.
Rated at 123 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2015, second to Treve among fillies and mares and tied for eighth overall.
As an individual
A bay mare, Beholder was fractious and excitable as a youngster but became more manageable as she gained racing experience. She remains dominant and assertive in disposition. When racing, she preferred to go to the lead early, but could stalk the pace as well. Her Achilles' heel was poor tolerance for the stress of shipping. She also had bad luck during her forays to the East as she was injured while running fourth in the 2014 Ogden Phipps Stakes (USA-G1), a mishap that kept her away from racing for three months.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Beholder was bred by Clarkland Farm. She sold for US$180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale and is owned by B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm LLC. She was trained by Richard Mandella.
Pedigree notes
Beholder is inbred 5x5 to Northern Dancer. Sired by the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Henny Hughes, she is a half sister to 2007 CashCall Futurity (USA-G1) winner Into Mischief (by Harlan's Holiday), the American champion sire of 2019 and 2020, and to 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) winner Mendelssohn (by Scat Daddy). She is also a half sister to Daisy Mason (by Orientate), dam of stakes winner Harry's Holiday (by Harlan's Holiday).
Beholder's dam Leslie's Lady, the 2016 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, won the listed Hoosier Debutante Stakes as a 2-year-old. She is a half sister to Colee Bear (by Wild Rush), dam of restricted stakes winner Fast Resource (by Bob and John). The next dam in Beholder's tail-female line, Crystal Lady (by Stop the Music) is a half sister to multiple restricted stakes winner Malcoha (by Afleet) and to open stakes winner Melanyhasthepapers (by Game Plan) as well as to stakes-placed One Last Colony (by Pleasant Colony), dam of listed stakes winner One Colony.
Crystal Lady, in turn, is out of stakes-placed One Last Bird (by One for All), a full sister to stakes producer Bravo All and a half sister to 1991 Californian Stakes (USA-G1) winner Roanoke (by Pleasant Colony) and stakes-placed Last Cause (by Caucasus), third dam of 2012 American champion 3-year-old male I'll Have Another. The female line traces back to the Cornish Prince mare Patelin, a modern foundation mare whose other descendants include 1991 American champion 2-year-old filly Pleasant Stage.
Books and media
Footage of Beholder's career-ending victory in the 2016 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff can be accessed at the Breeders' Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/beholder).
Fun facts
Photo credits
Top: Taken by Mike Sekulic during Beholder's victory in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). Used by permission.
Bottom: Taken by Mike Sekulic following Beholder's career-ending victory in the 2016 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). Used by permission.
Race record
26 starts, 18 wins, 6 seconds, 0 thirds, US$6,056,600
2012:
- Won Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Del Mar Debutante Stakes (USA-G1, 7FA, Del Mar)
2013:
- Won Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Torrey Pines Stakes (USA-L, 8FA, Del Mar)
- 2nd Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Santa Ynez Stakes (USA-G2, 7FD, Santa Anita)
2014:
- Won Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Santa Lucia Stakes (USA-R, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
2015:
- Won TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 10FA, Del Mar)
- Won Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Del Mar)
- Won Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Adoration Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Santa Lucia Stakes (USA-R, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
2016
- Won Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Vanity Mile Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Adoration Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Del Mar)
- 2nd TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Del Mar)
- 2nd Zenyatta Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
Honors
- Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (2012)
- Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old filly (2013)
- Eclipse Award, American champion older female (2015, 2016)
- Kentucky-bred champion 2-year-old female (2012)
- Kentucky-bred champion 3-year-old female (2013)
- Kentucky-bred champion older female (2015)
Assessments
Highweighted at 123 pounds among juvenile fillies on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 2012.
Rated at 121 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2003, 9 pounds below co-highweights Black Caviar (the 2012/2013 Australian Horse of the Year) and Treve (the 2013 European Horse of the Year) but tops among fillies and mares on dirt.
Rated at 117 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2014, 13 pounds below top-weighted Just a Way and 9 pounds below the top filly or mare, Treve.
Rated at 123 pounds on the final Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2015, second to Treve among fillies and mares and tied for eighth overall.
As an individual
A bay mare, Beholder was fractious and excitable as a youngster but became more manageable as she gained racing experience. She remains dominant and assertive in disposition. When racing, she preferred to go to the lead early, but could stalk the pace as well. Her Achilles' heel was poor tolerance for the stress of shipping. She also had bad luck during her forays to the East as she was injured while running fourth in the 2014 Ogden Phipps Stakes (USA-G1), a mishap that kept her away from racing for three months.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Beholder was bred by Clarkland Farm. She sold for US$180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale and is owned by B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm LLC. She was trained by Richard Mandella.
Pedigree notes
Beholder is inbred 5x5 to Northern Dancer. Sired by the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Henny Hughes, she is a half sister to 2007 CashCall Futurity (USA-G1) winner Into Mischief (by Harlan's Holiday), the American champion sire of 2019 and 2020, and to 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (USA-G1) winner Mendelssohn (by Scat Daddy). She is also a half sister to Daisy Mason (by Orientate), dam of stakes winner Harry's Holiday (by Harlan's Holiday).
Beholder's dam Leslie's Lady, the 2016 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, won the listed Hoosier Debutante Stakes as a 2-year-old. She is a half sister to Colee Bear (by Wild Rush), dam of restricted stakes winner Fast Resource (by Bob and John). The next dam in Beholder's tail-female line, Crystal Lady (by Stop the Music) is a half sister to multiple restricted stakes winner Malcoha (by Afleet) and to open stakes winner Melanyhasthepapers (by Game Plan) as well as to stakes-placed One Last Colony (by Pleasant Colony), dam of listed stakes winner One Colony.
Crystal Lady, in turn, is out of stakes-placed One Last Bird (by One for All), a full sister to stakes producer Bravo All and a half sister to 1991 Californian Stakes (USA-G1) winner Roanoke (by Pleasant Colony) and stakes-placed Last Cause (by Caucasus), third dam of 2012 American champion 3-year-old male I'll Have Another. The female line traces back to the Cornish Prince mare Patelin, a modern foundation mare whose other descendants include 1991 American champion 2-year-old filly Pleasant Stage.
Books and media
Footage of Beholder's career-ending victory in the 2016 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff can be accessed at the Breeders' Cup Hall of Champions (https://www.breederscup.com/history-tradition/hall-champions/beholder).
Fun facts
- Had it not been for illness, Beholder would probably have been a young broodmare in 2015 rather than a racehorse. She had originally been slated to compete in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1) and then enter the sale ring at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November sale but was withdrawn from both engagements after spiking a fever. After she recovered, owner B. Wayne Hughes decided to keep her and to race her another year.
- Beholder is the second horse to win three Breeders' Cup races. The first, Goldikova, took all three of her titles in the Mile in 2008-2010.
- Beholder completed a rare triple at California's major race tracks by being named “Horse of the Meet” for the 2015 Santa Anita spring meeting and earning the same honor at the 2015 Del Mar meeting and the 2015 Santa Anita fall meeting.
- Beholder lacked just five votes from 261 cast of being a unanimous choice in Eclipse Award voting for 2015 American champion older female.
- Beholder is the first runner to win a Grade 1 race in five consecutive seasons since John Henry did so in 1980-1984 and the only horse ever to do so beginning as a juvenile.
- In February 2017, Santa Anita Park announced that the Grade 1 Vanity Mile Stakes would be renamed the Beholder Mile Stakes in the champion's honor. The race is open to fillies and mares aged 3 and up.
Photo credits
Top: Taken by Mike Sekulic during Beholder's victory in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). Used by permission.
Bottom: Taken by Mike Sekulic following Beholder's career-ending victory in the 2016 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). Used by permission.
Last updated: November 11, 2021