Beholder makes a triumphant return to the races at Santa Anita

On Mother’s Day, the best female horse in America, Beholder, made a triumphant return in her debut as a 6-year-old, winning the $100,000 Adoration Stakes at Santa Anita by 2 1/2 lengths at odds of 1-9 under Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.

Beholder, a three-time Eclipse Award winner, was making her first start since last September for trainer Richard Mandella and owner B. Wayne Hughes.

Only two days before Beholder was scheduled to take on Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year in Keeneland, Mandella scratched her when an exam found her to have some bleeding in her throat after a morning gallop.

Her return is great news for horse racing in Southern California, since the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held at Santa Anita on Nov. 4-5 and two Southland-based Kentucky Derby winners, California Chrome and Nyquist, are pointing toward that race.

“We hope Nyquist is there as a Triple Crown winner,” Hughes said.

Beholder returned $2.10 to win, place and show. Sheer Pleasure finished second and All Star Bub was third. Of the $746,626 wagered to show in the six-horse field, $692,457 was bet to show on Beholder. There was a minus show pool of $137,142.55.

Stevens made it back to Santa Anita on Sunday after riding Mor Spirit to a 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

Beholder was four-wide going into the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile race, settled in third place behind Sheer Pleasure on the backstretch and overhauled Sheer Pleasure turning into the stretch. The final time was 1:42.73.

“It was a very nice race,” Hughes said. “She needed the race badly.”

Last October, when scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic, no one was going to risk the health of a mare who romped by 8 1/4 lengths over the boys in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar and had won 15 of 20 starts lifetime and $4,436,600 in earnings.

She was tthe 2015 Eclipse Award winner for champion older female; the 2013 winner for champion 3-year-old filly and 2012 winner for champion 2-year-old filly.

Now she’s back for a rare campaign as a 6-year-old that could end next November with horse racing fans dreaming of a matchup among Beholder, California Chrome and Nyqust.

Fingers are crossed.

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