Spendthrift Farm's two-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) has been scratched from an expected start in Saturday's GI Vanity S. at Santa Anita due to illness. The bay spiked a fever Thursday morning, which was a bit of deja vu as she was scratched from a title defense in the Oct. 31 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Fasig-Tipton November sale for the same reason.
“Unfortunately, you're not going to get to see her this weekend,” Beholder's regular pilot Gary Stevens said on an NTRA teleconference Thursday afternoon. “I saw Richard [Mandella] this morning [at Santa Anita], and she had a temperature. Hopefully, it doesn't turn into something like he had with her before the Breeders' Cup. They're on top of it early. But she's not going to make the gate Saturday. Hopefully, she won't lose enough time that it will cost her a chance to come back and try the [GI] Ogden Phipps [at Belmont June 6] again.”
Beholder raced just three times last year, starting her season with a victory in Arcadia's Santa Lucia S. last April. Fourth in the Ogden Phipps, the bay successfully defended her title in the GI Zenyatta S. at Santa Anita Sept. 27 prior to being scratched from the Distaff. The 5-year-old kicked off this term with a dominant win in the Santa Lucia Apr. 10.
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