Trainer Richard Mandella reported all appeared well with Spendthrift Farm's homebred Teena Ella the day after she became the first offspring of Hall of Famer Beholder to win a stakes race.
In Saturday's Senorita (G3) on Santa Anita's hillside turf course, Teena Ella seized the lead near the eighth pole under Edwin Maldonado and gamely held off a late charge from 21-1 longshot Tom's Regret to win by a neck.
“She showed a lot of courage,” Mandella said Sunday morning. “That horse that ran second ran a hell of a race, but she held on.”
By War Front, Teena Ella has now won two of three starts since being switched to the turf. Her lone defeat came in her prior start on March 26 in the Angels Flight down the hill. In that race, Teena Ella lost ground when veering out at the dirt crossing and was beaten just a half-length by Fast and Shiny. They met again on Saturday, with Fast and Shiny flashing her customary early speed as the 2-1 favorite, but this time she faded to fifth in a six-horse field.
All five of Teena Ella's starts have come sprints. Mandella said he expects she will try longer distances later this year.
“By Del Mar we'll stretch her out,” said the Hall of Fame trainer.
Teena Ella is the third foal out of Beholder, a four-time champion who last year was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame. Her first two foals, Karin With an I and Q B One, were a combined 0-for-6 while with Mandella at Santa Anita.
Beholder's fourth foal, an unnamed 2-year-old filly by Spendthrift Farm sire Bolt d'Oro, arrived at Mandella's barn on Saturday, the trainer said.
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