Spendthrift Farm's homebred Teena Ella, the third foal out of four-time champion and Hall of Famer Beholder, will make her second start Sunday at Santa Anita in the third race, a six-furlong maiden special weight for 3-year-old fillies.
By War Front, Teen Ella debuted under similar conditions at Del Mar on Nov. 12. Sent off at 2-1, Teena Ella dueled through sharp opening fractions of :21.92 and :44.76 for a half mile before faltering in the stretch and fading to sixth, beaten 11 lengths. The winner of that heat, Faiza, came back to win the Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos on Dec. 10 for Bob Baffert.
Teena Ella is trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella and will again have top jockey Juan Hernandez in the irons. She is the co-second choice on the morning line at 5-2.
Mandella, who hits at 19 percent clip with second-time starters, was encouraged by Teena Ella's debut and is looking for a move forward on Sunday. She has worked five times at Santa Anita since that effort, which includes a bullet four-furlong move on Dec. 1 and stamina-building six-furlong drill in 1:12.6 on Dec. 19. Mandella said Teena Ella could receive a change in tactics for start No. 2.
“She acts like she can run a little bit,” Mandella said Saturday morning. “We might try and save her a little bit early (in the race) and see how that goes.”
Sunday's third race on an eight-race program that will be held exclusively on dirt due to predicted rain, has an assigned post time of 12:59 (PT).
Also currently in Mandella's barn is Beholder's second foal, Karin With an I. Spendthrift's 3-year-old Curlin filly, homebred Karin With an I has yet to be competitive. She checked in seventh in both her debut at Santa Anita in April and again at Del Mar on Sept. 11.
Karin With an I has been working steadily since early November and on Saturday she drilled three furlongs in :36.40.
Earlier this year, Beholder was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame following a sparkling career on the track. The daughter of Henny Hughes had a record of 18-6-0 from 26 starts and amassed more than $6.1 million in earnings for Spendthrift Farm. She was champion 2-year-old filly in 2012, champion 3-year-old filly the following year, and was twice champion older female in 2015 and 2016.
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