Teena Ella will become the first offspring of four-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder to run in a stakes when she starts Sunday in the $100,000 Angels Flight on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita.
By prominent turf sire War Front, Teena Ella earned her stakes shot for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella with a sharp six-furlong maiden win Feb. 12 at Santa Anita when switched to the grass for start number three. In her two previous outings, both going six furlongs on the main track, Teena Ella showed speed for a half mile before fading in the stretch.
“Obviously she showed she can handle the turf the other day and has really been doing well,” said Mandella, who also trained Beholder. “She looks like a filly that is growing and improving. I certainly hope that's the case.”
Teena Ella is listed as the 3-1 co-second choice on the morning line for the Angels Flight. She has worked four times since her graduation victory, including a quick half-mile drill in :47.40 on Monday. Jockey Kazushi Kimura was up for the work and has the call in the Angels Flight. He replaces Santa Anita leading rider Juan Hernandez, who has opted to ride 8-5 morning-line favorite Manhattan Jungle for trainer Michael McCarthy.
Teena Ella is a homebred for Spendthrift Farm, who also bred and campaigned Beholder, by Henny Hughes. She is the third foal out of her Hall of Fame dam and only winner. Beholder's first two foals, Karin With an I and QB One, were a combined 0-for-6 on the racetrack for Mandella.
“The first two were a little disappointing, but this one is doing pretty good. We have high hopes,” Mandella said.
Beholder won four Eclipse Awards during five seasons of racing when racking up a record of 18-6-0 from 26 career starts while earning $6,156,600. She was champion 2-year-old filly in 2012 when she won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and then champion 3-year-old the following season when she beat older in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Beholder would then be named the champion older female of 2015 with a campaign that included a win against males in the Pacific Classic (G1). She repeated that championship feat in 2016 after adding a second victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita when defeating heavily favored Songbird by a dramatic nose.
Last year, Beholder was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The post Teena Ella, Daughter Of Fame Of Famer Beholder, Set For Stakes Debut Sunday At Santa Anita appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
