Beholder is out of the Breeders’ Cup

Two days of incessant rain, the tail-end of which was so heavy it even confined US Triple Crown hero American Pharoah to walking around his barn under cover yesterday morning, have cast something of a damper on the build-up to the 32nd Breeders’ Cup, that begins in Keeneland, Kentucky tomorrow. But let’s not kid ourselves.

As much as an 1,195-pound horse can be a family pet, American Pharoah fills the bill. I am a Beholder fan and lover.

He was voted off the show by viewers after three dances, but as he met the press last week at Santa Anita racetrack near Los Angeles – where American Pharoah was putting in his last serious works before shipping to Lexington, Kentucky, for the Breeders’ Cup – he was pleased at the prospect of rejoining his more familiar partner. But this was more a case of my being dazzled by Beholder. Her absence reduces the Classic field to nine. “Wishing her a speedy recovery”.

The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old will be looking to cap his stellar career with a ninth win in 11 starts, and many are talking about a unique “Grand Slam” for the bay colt should he go on to triumph at the Keeneland Race Course in Lexington. The Classic is usually a determining factor in that outcome. Zenyatta was the first female to win it in 2009 when, after breaking poorly, she thrilled us all by squeezing through an opening mid-pack, leaving the colts in her wake.

Ahmed Zayat, owner/breeder of American Pharoah, immediately expressed his sadness at Beholder’s withdrawal.

Breeders’ Cup organizers confirmed news that Beholder wouldn’t be racing.

“The time off gave him the chance to get his strength back”, Baffert said. Remember when Zenyatta won the Classic? This time, the feeling will be different when he looks on from the stands at bucolic Keeneland. It happened over and over again with Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta.

One of the top choices in the Breeders’ Cup Classic is officially out of the running as Beholder was scratched from the field Thursday. “This was obviously due to the fever she had when she arrived”. “Racing’s been under sort of a dark cloud the last few years with not a lot of good publicity, and this horse came at the right time to pick everybody’s spirits up”, The trainer said.

For somebody partial to $1 exacta boxes, the race does not lend itself to an investment. But it just won’t be the same. How’s that for a great Breeders’ Cup Classic story? Now we’ve got a “really good horse race”.