A homebred for Pamela Cee Ziebarth, Sweet Azteca blasted right out of the gate and controlled the early tempo of :23.40 and :47.40 while in hand. As the dust settled with Green Up tracking just off the frontrunner's flank, Sweet Azteca showed no signs of slowing as she rounded the final turn and sailed into the stretch three lengths on top. Adare Manor blew by Green Up to chase the gray home, but couldn't catch the winner and finished three-quarters of a length in arrears.

“It felt like she was used to sprinting, so around the turn I tried to get her to relax, and she did the rest herself,” said Flavien Prat, who was aboard the winner. “At the turn for home, I felt the other horse coming and she picked it up herself.”

Sweet Azteca made one start as a 3-year-old last year for trainer Michael McCarthy, resulting in a Derby week win at Churchill Downs and an 85 debut Beyer Speed Figure. Benched until the GIII Las Flores S. at Santa Anita on New Year's Day, Sweet Azteca was outkicked for third after drifting out late, then roared back with a 12-length optional allowance win and a 91 Beyer over this surface going 6 1/2 furlongs Feb. 2. The Beholder Mile was her first try around two turns.

McCarthy previously won the Beholder Mile in 2020 with Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), who, like Sweet Azteca, was lightly raced and coming off a 6 1/2-furlong optional allowance a month prior. Ce Ce would go on to become the 2021 Eclipse champion female sprinter and a three-time Grade I winner, whose victories included the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Pedigree Notes:

Sweet Azteca is the first graded winner for Sharp Azteca, a former Three Chimneys stallion who is standing the 2024 season at Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan. With two crops to the races, Sharp Azteca is responsible for six black-type winners. Sweet Azteca also is one of 93 stakes winners out of a mare by the late Grand Slam. Both Sharp Azteca and Grand Slam also won Grade I races at a mile during their racing careers: the first in the 2017 Cigar Mile, the second in the 1997 Futurity S.

A third-generation homebred for Ziebarth, Sweet Azteca is out of a family first nurtured by Ziebarth's late mother, Cecilia Straub Rubens. The Beholder Mile winner's fourth dam is the famed Straub Rubens mare Cee's Song. Sold for $2.6 million to Dromoland Farm in 2001, Cee's Song produced Horse of the Year Tiznow, MGSW & GISP Budroyale, GSW Tizdubai, and the dams of GISWs Oxbow and Paynter. The family is seeing a revitalization in 2024 as, in addition to Sweet Azteca, 'TDN Rising Star', GII Rachel Alexandra S. winner, and top GI Kentucky Oaks contender Tarifa (Bernardini) is a direct descendant.

So Sweetitiz has a 2-year-old colt named Mucho Dulce (Mucho Macho Man) and a yearling colt named Under the Big Sky (Tonalist). She is in foal for 2024 with a full-sibling to Sweet Azteca.

How sweet it is! SWEET AZTECA was more than up to the task, taking them all the way in Saturday's GI B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile at @santaanitapark. pic.twitter.com/iDV7G9HxF6

— TDN (@theTDN) March 10, 2024

Saturday, Santa Anita Park
BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $301,000, Santa Anita, 3-9, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.40, ft.
1–SWEET AZTECA, 120, f, 4, by Sharp Azteca
           1st Dam: So Sweetitiz (MSW, $180,480), by Grand Slam
           2nd Dam: Sweetitiz, by El Prado (Ire)
           3rd Dam: Tizsweet, by Cee's Tizzy
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Pamela Cee Ziebarth (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-1, $301,200. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-crosspedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Adare Manor, 122, m, 5, by Uncle Mo
           1st Dam: Brooklynsway (GSW-USA, MSW & GSP-Can, $724,597), by Giant Gizmo
           2nd Dam: Explosive Story, by Radio Star
           3rd Dam: Maya's Note, by Editor's Note
($180,000 Ylg '20 FTKFEB; $190,000 RNA Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $375,000 2yo '21 OBSOPN). O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC & Gary Broad (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Green Up, 120, m, 5, by Upstart
           1st Dam: Green Punch, by Two Punch
           2nd Dam: Green Jeans, by Green Dancer
           3rd Dam: Duds, by Ack Ack
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. 'TDN Rising Star'. ($10,000 Ylg '20 EASOCT). O-Team Valor International, LLC; B-Althea Richards (VA); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $36,000.
Margins: 3/4, 5HF, 3/4. Odds: 3.40, 1.10, 4.60.
Also Ran: Desert Dawn, Window Shopping, Coffee in Bed, Interstatedaydream. Scratched: Kirstenbosch, Turnerloose.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Hughes, the founder of the Public Storage company and whose silks carried the same purple-and-orange color scheme, owned horses for five decades and was the proprietor of Spendthrift Farm from 2004.

Beholder, a daughter of Henny Hughes, was purchased for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September sale and won a record 13 stakes races at Santa Anita, including the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and Breeders' Cup Distaffs in Arcadia in 2013 and 2016. A four-time Eclipse Award winner, she registered 12 Grade I victories and retired with earnings of $6,156,600. She was inducted into Racing's Hall of Fame in 2022.

“Santa Anita is proud to honor someone who gave so much to the sport,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “Mr. Hughes was a true sportsman who made contributions in every aspect of the game. It only seems appropriate that his name stands alongside his greatest racemare in Santa Anita's most prestigious race for fillies and mares.”

Added current Spendthrift owner Eric Gustavson: “The team at Spendthrift, including Wayne's daughter Tammy and me, would like to sincerely thank Santa Anita for renaming the Beholder Mile. To have B. Wayne Hughes's name attached to such a prestigious race, named after his best race mare at his favorite place is an amazing way to honor him.”

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Each race–particularly a Breeders' Cup win–is special to the connections of the winner, but some races stand out more than others in all who are lucky enough to witness them. Some get embedded in the mind and take up permanent residence there. Just about everyone in racing can recall in vivid detail Arazi's scintillating 1991 Juvenile or Personal Ensign's electrifying 1988 Distaff or Tiznow's gripping 2001 Classic. Each of those are among the transcendent performances in our sport that stir the soul, both for those who witnessed them in person or live on television and even in newer racing devotees who discover them for the first time.

Without a doubt, the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff ranks among the best races in Breeders' Cup history. Two already-beloved Breeders' Cup winners and future Hall of Famers locked horns in what would prove a race for the ages, only to finish millimeters apart at the wire.

To jog the memory, that year's Distaff was the last Breeders' Cup race on Friday's card at Santa Anita and the final race of Beholder's stellar career. The Spendthrift colorbearer was already a three-time Eclipse champion, a 10-time Grade I winner, and a dual Breeders' Cup winner. However, after three straight runner-up finishes and certainly in the twilight of her career at the age of six, there were whispers that perhaps the great mare's best days were behind her.

Beholder at Spendthrift | Sarah Andrew

“I was really nervous about it going in because I wasn't quite sure she was the same Beholder as a 6-year-old as she had been her 5-year-old year,” said Ned Toffey, general manager at Spendthrift. “I remember the next day wondering why my hands were sore and it was because I was pounding on the box, pounding on the wall as they were coming down the stretch, cheering her home.”

For her part, the Fox Hill-owned Songbird was no slouch either as an undefeated 3-year-old filly. Her previous 11 starts–and wins–included seven Grade I victories and the last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, as well as an Eclipse championship of her own. The question facing her was how she would handle older mares for the first time, especially one as tough as Beholder.

“With her first Breeders' Cup, I don't think we've ever had a horse we were as confident in,” said Victoria Keith, Fox Hill Farm's vice president at the time. “You get really, really spoiled by a horse of her caliber. With [Fox Hill's] Havre de Grace and Hard Spun, you knew they were going to give a good effort, but with Songbird, you got the idea she was invincible.

“This race was the toughest competition. When you're going to be meeting up with Beholder…” Keith trailed off. “l always feel when two great horses meet each other, the [older horse] is going to have the physical advantage even with a weight allowance. The fact that Songbird ran so well was something to be so proud of.”

It was exactly the type of showdown we all crave and that so rarely comes to fruition. Both were clearly at their best that day. Of course, there were a number of other top fillies and mares in that year's Distaff, but they were all running for third.

In a stretch run reminiscent of Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in the 1989 Preakness or Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Belmont, Songbird and Beholder exited that final bend together and threw it all down. Nose to nose for stride after pulsating stride, neither deserved to lose.

“We had a bad angle on the wire and it looked to me like Songbird had gotten her nose down on the wire,” said Toffey. “It was a great race. Two champions, two gutsy, courageous mares. Those are the kind we're' all looking for.”

Songbird at Gainesway | Sarah Andrew

Keith had the same thoughts. “We all stood there and thought Songbird had won. From our angle it certainly looked like she'd nosed out Beholder. We were so proud to be part of that race, one that is considered to be one of the best Breeders' Cup races ever.”

In the end, the photo showed Beholder's nostrils just a hair breadth in front at the wire, but the bob could just as easily have gone to Songbird. Both had given their best, neither had disappointed, and the two have been inextricably linked since.

“We were waiting for [the photo] and when it came down, I remember the look on [Fox Hill owner] Rick [Porter]'s face,” said Keith. “At first, we were so disappointed, so sure it was us, and then so proud that the disappointment didn't last long.”

The Spendthrift team had the opposite experience, initially believing they'd lost the photo and then realizing they'd won the epic battle.

“Our group was ecstatic. Just jubilation,” said Toffey. “We all knew going in that it was going to be Beholder's last start. At six, it was time to be retired and be bred. It was funny because there wasn't a sense of pressure because she'd had such a remarkable career already, having won a Grade I at two, three, four, five, and six. It was, in some ways, an unprecedented career.

“Songbird was a worthy adversary and she certainly didn't disappoint. It was a really, really fitting way for Beholder to wrap up one of the greatest careers we've seen, a great and fitting way to cap her career.”

Both Beholder and Songbird earned year-end championships in their respective divisions. Beholder became only the second horse in history to win three Breeders' Cup races.

Despite officially losing what would become a match race, Songbird inspired enduring respect and a legion of hashtags on social media claiming #SongbirdWon.

Both owners of the two champions have since passed away: Fox Hill's Rick Porter in June, 2021 and Spendthrift's B. Wayne Hughes two months later.

Beholder with Spendthrift's Kendall Wucker | Sarah Andrew

“Probably one of my favorite memories is that Rick and Mr. Hughes became friends,” reminisced Keith. “One time [Hughes] invited us to his house to show us his guest bathroom downstairs with custom wallpaper of Songbird and Beholder. Obviously for him to do something like that showed how equally proud he was. Those two gentlemen were two of the finer men in racing. Both were so proud to be part of that race and those two fillies. That's what is so special about it to me.”

Both mares have continued to make headlines. Beholder was retired after the Distaff to Spendthrift Farm.

“It was huge for us to bring her home,” said Toffey. “There are obviously plenty of nice mares on the farm, plenty of nice horses, but when you have a horse like that get off the van, there's a little added sense of pressure to the task of getting her let down safely and settled into farm life, plus to go on and get her bred, all those things.

“[Trainer Richard] Mandella did such a great job taking care of her at the track. It was very gratifying for her to come home and to hope she was going to come in and have a good, long career. A horse like that sort of picks everybody's head up on the farm. There's a sense of pride, something really special about it, how it lifts everyone's morale.”

Songbird with her Curlin filly | Sarah Andrew

Each foal has been eagerly anticipated, with the farm willingly sharing updates with the public. Beholder's first two foals did not live up to her lofty standards at the track, but her next three have each made headlines in 2023. There is a sense that she is just getting started as a producer despite a slower start.

Her first foal, Q B One (Uncle Mo), did not win at the racetrack. He is now a 5-year-old and has been gelded.

“He is a young lady's show horse,” said Toffey. “He has a great, great home, goes to horse shows regularly. He was not an easy horse. If he had almost any other pedigree, he would have been gelded sooner as he was a little bit of a rogue. He had a hard time concentrating on doing his job, so it was hard to get an assessment of his talent level, but he didn't show a lot of focus.”

Karin With an I (Curlin), Beholder's 4-year-old, was unplaced in two starts.

“She is back here at Spendthrift,” said Toffey. “She's a beautiful filly, very strong, marked sort of similarly to Beholder. For whatever reason, she didn't demonstrate a lot of talent. She is in foal to [Spendthrift's Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner] Authentic.

“The mating was always interesting. We were waiting to do it for a generation or so because there's some thought of inbreeding to superior females. The foal will be 3×3 to Leslie's Lady. We're excited about the potential there.”

Leslie's Lady, of course, was the Broodmare of the Year who produced both Beholder and Into Mischief, Spendthrift's record-breaking four-time leading sire.

Beholder's current 3-year-old filly, Teena Ella (War Front), became her first winner in February and then went one better by capturing the GIII Senorita S. in May. Toffey said she is the least impressive physically of Beholder's foals to date, as she is “somewhat short and compact, but definitely had a little bit of zip to her.” He said she was just starting to come into her own, but had some niggling issues and will be retired and bred this coming year.

Beholder | Sarah Andrew

A graded winner is a wonderful accomplishment for any broodmare, but Beholder is not just any mare. In hindsight, she was just warming up with Teena Ella. Her 2-year-old filly has since become the undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' and facile GI Del Mar Debutante S. winner Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), who has given flashbacks of her brilliant dam. Tamara is targeting the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, which Beholder won 11 years ago. And then, of course, there's Beholder's yearling colt by Curlin, who topped August's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale when realizing $4 million from agent Donato Lanni on behalf of Zedan Racing.

Beholder was barren to the cover of Gun Runner this year. She is in foal to Jackie's Warrior for 2024.

“There was a time when Mr. Hughes thought about selling Beholder,” said Toffey. “It was early in her career, but she developed a fever which kept us from shipping her to Fasig-Tipton. That may have been some of the best luck we've ever had. Mr. Hughes had a saying, 'This is the damnedest business, because at the time when you have luck, you don't even know for a couple of years whether it's good luck or bad luck.' How fortunate that led us to keep her. After her win [over males in the 2015 GI] Pacific Classic, there was no selling her. Some of the best luck.

“There is something really special about Beholder,” continued Toffey. “She's only a little bit bigger than average. She's a good, strong filly, not huge, but now on the farm she's grown and developed and is that much bigger. She has a tremendous presence about her that you would get a sense of even if you didn't know who she was. She sort of knows that she's special. There's a presence and a substance to her that really strands out.”

Songbird | Sarah Andrew

Songbird had a slightly different journey than her biggest rival after the 2016 Distaff. She briefly raced the next summer, adding two more Grade I wins to her extensive CV, then topped Fasig-Tipton's November Sale as a $9.5-million broodmare prospect when Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm LLC won the bidding war.

“While it was hard [to say goodbye to Songbird], Rick was never really into breeding,” said Keith. “He had tried his hand at it a little bit earlier and thought about buying a farm in Lexington, but it didn't pan out and he didn't really want to board them elsewhere. Rick loved the horses but was also very disciplined. For him that meant there was a certain amount of money he'd spend at auction and from that crop there would be a very small percentage that would pay for the rest, not on the track, but in selling. That enabled him to keep in the black by having that discipline.

“He had to be able to sell the valuable breeding prospects. The good thing is that he was at the level in racing that you know the person who is going to buy the horse is going to be a good owner, and give certainly as good a home as we'd ever give the horse. It was exciting for him to see his horses do well in every area. The businessman in him was very disciplined in that.”

Like Beholder, Songbird did not immediately find success with her first foals, but each foal brings renewed promise and hope. Also like Beholder, she too sent her first yearling to the sales this year. Songbird's Curlin colt was a $1-million Book 1 purchase by Grandview Equine at the Keeneland September Sale.

Songbird's initial foal, the unraced Arrogate filly Song Gate, produced her first foal, a filly by Tapit, this year. Songbird's 3-year-old filly, Magical Song (Tapit), last raced at Saratoga Aug. 18 for trainer Todd Pletcher but has not yet found the winner's circle. She also has an unraced 2-year-old filly by Tapit, as well as that seven-figure Keeneland yearling. Songbird produced another Curlin foal, a filly this time, May 1 and has been bred back to Gun Runner.

“I've watched her from afar,” said Keith. “She was such a sweetheart, it's sort of unbelievable to me how sweet she was [and yet such a competitor]. The most you can hope for in racing is that you've been blessed enough to own a horse like that.

“Rick was very blessed and I got to ride along on the coattails. I got to live vicariously. It was so fun, a very special journey. I wish everyone in horse racing could experience it.”

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This is headed by Hughes's daughter Tammy and her husband Eric Gustavson, with continuity provided by general manager Ned Toffey. All emphasize their determination to respect the Hughes legacy, while continuing to build and adapt.

The very fact that a breeder will now have an opportunity to buy into one of the modern breed's most remarkable families is a case in point. For the innovative stallion program developed by Hughes proved so successful, above all through the phenomenal rise of Beholder's sibling Into Mischief, that it has required a parallel upgrade in the broodmare band. This trend has felt increasingly conspicuous, both in the last stages of Hughes's life and during the two years since his loss.

“In the past, we used to bring in a lot of mares that would sort of add to the middle,” Gustavson acknowledges. “And Tammy and I have come to the conclusion that we would like to add to the top of our broodmare band, and have some of these big-time mares to breed to big-time stallions. Certainly Into Mischief qualifies as one of those.

Of course that's our primary model, the stallion, so we're always trying to bring in the next big thing. And now we want the big-time mares to go with the big-time stallions.”
Spendthrift duly gave $9.5 million for Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) at the Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale of 2020, alongside the $4.2 million Bast (Uncle Mo) and $2.75 million Got Stormy (Get Stormy). In their slipstream followed a series of other striking acquisitions, such as Paris Lights (Curlin) for $3.1 million at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale. But this rebalancing, in turn, has now prompted a shift of strategy with the kind of stock now being produced by the home herd.

“Under Mr. Hughes, we generally offered nearly all of our yearlings at auction,” Toffey explains. “There's always been sort of an emotional attachment to Beholder and her offspring. But one of the things that we've talked about since his passing is that it's important we continue to run Spendthrift as a business. We've kicked around a lot of ideas. We talked about keeping a lot of the offspring, becoming a little more of a breed-to-race operation. But at the end of the day we feel like this is a business and we need to continue to run it that way.

“We had a decision not just with Beholder this year, but with a lot of these other wonderful mares. We've a tremendous foal crop, and some really nice horses will be in the pipeline in the coming years. So we had to make a decision: are we going to keep all these, or are we going to make them available to buyers? And we felt like if all we're going to do is take our culls out there, it doesn't send a great message for those horses. We realize that we can never know where the best racehorses will come from. Sometimes it won't be from the elite. But we want buyers to see that we're going to make our best horses available, and give them a shot to do well with them.”

Ned Toffey | Spendthrift Farm

“That's the first thing you would want somebody to understand,” agrees Gustavson. “That we're definitely not unloading. And I think by selling these types, you're proving that you're not just unloading your culls, but you're selling what you think is the best of your best. And we hope that brings a kind of different mindset to the buyer, so that they're thinking, 'Wow, these guys are selling serious horses.'”

That determination makes a real poster boy of Beholder's colt, who is expected to match his billing as Hip 165 in the Taylor Made consignment. Toffey reckons Curlin to have been “a bit of a no-brainer” as a mate for Beholder in 2021, and the Hill 'n' Dale stallion has only reinforced his reputation since.

“It felt like she had enough speed to suit Curlin, who tends to get a little more of a Classic type,” Toffey reasons. “And we've got a physical that would suggest that's what we've got. He's really an attractive, athletic, strong colt. Great mover, got great presence to him. We're really excited about him, particularly with sons of Curlin taking off, like Good Magic.”

Evidently the colt also has the temperament required at the Saratoga sale, where traffic through the sales complex is so hectic.

“This is a colt that's got a great mind,” Toffey says. “You know, there's an intensity about him but also great intelligence and he takes everything in stride. And Saratoga is just a magical place to take a marquee horse. There's just an incredible atmosphere, and we're looking forward to capitalizing on that. This is the kind of horse that you like to take there: let him show himself off to all the top buyers, and see what he can do.”

In her young breeding career—this is her fifth foal—Beholder has recently made an important breakthrough with third foal Teena Ella (War Front), who won the GIII Senorita S. at Santa Anita in May, only her second start after breaking her maiden. And that's despite Toffey reckoning Teena Ella to be a somewhat less impressive specimen than some of her younger siblings.

“But we began to realize that she had some athletic ability,” he says. “Richard Mandella's done a great job in managing her, and she's now a graded stakes winner. And you know, for Beholder to have her pedigree, race record and looks, and now to add graded stakes producer to her resume—that puts her in an incredibly elite group of broodmares.”

Moreover her 2-year-old by Bolt d'Oro has been evidently been exciting Mandella and his team.

Eric Gustavson | Spendthrift Farm

“By all accounts he seems to have the most ability of those we've seen so far, including the Grade III winner,” Toffey discloses. “That's got to be proven out, but the early reviews are very, very good. So hopefully Beholder is really just getting started now, and seems to have figured the broodmare game out. The pipeline seems pretty loaded and we feel that this colt, physically, has a different look about him. He's got all the tools and hopefully will put all that together.”

In starting her own contribution to the dynasty, Beholder can now render still more extraordinary the story of Leslie's Lady, the Tricky Creek mare who was perceived as offering little genetic credibility when Into Mischief started out. Since then she has proved herself an authentic blue hen through the endeavors of Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy) and Beholder herself.

“It really is remarkable,” agrees Toffey. “As Mr. Hughes used to like to say, 'Nobody knows.' When Into Mischief first went to stud, people really questioned his pedigree. It's amazing the way things unfold. Given a little bit of time, it has now become one of the most spectacular pedigrees in the American Stud Book. So it's been a great ride. I don't think anybody could have expected everything to happen the way it did. But, you know, breeding is a game that requires patience. And if you do show a little of that, you can really be rewarded.”

That length of perspective has also served some of the strategic shifts being made by the Spendthrift boardroom. Weighing up the context, Toffey explains: “You know, early on, we had a relatively modest stallion roster, with a couple of exceptions. And it's always been important for us to have a broodmare band that we can utilize to support our stallions at an appropriate level. Gradually we've been fortunate enough to increase the quality of our stallion roster, and so we really felt it important to upgrade the quality of the broodmare band to go along with that. And now we're fortunate to have some really high quality stock roaming the grounds here.”

Having been broodmare manager at Three Chimneys prior to his recruitment by Hughes in 2004, Toffey does not deny feeling an extra fulfilment in this new chapter of the Spendthrift story.

“I really have,” he says with a smile. “Mr. Hughes would actually give me a hard time pretty regularly about being a broodmare guy, and I am a little biased. I do believe that the broodmare plays a huge role, and probably an underrated role, in all of this. I really believe that the strength of any organization is its broodmare band. If you go through history, you see how the fortunes of many farms rise and fall on the backs of a small number of really successful broodmares.”

That said, quality will remain complemented by quantity. “This is a numbers game,” Toffey argues. “You've got to go through a lot of horses to find those really special ones. But we've got ownership here that's excited and committed to try and bring in, and produce, the best quality that we can.”

And that's a matter of evolution rather than revolution.

“Wayne was such a visionary, and so successful in almost everything he did, that we'd be foolish not to try thinking about how he would have gone about things,” Toffey reflects. “At the same time, over the years Tammy and Eric have gotten very familiar with how to go about things, and they bring a lot of their own ideas as well.”
The evolution of the program will also be evident at the Keeneland September Sale, where the young bloods on the Spendthrift roster will once again be making their presence felt.

Curlin at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa | Sarah Andrew photo

“We've got a really nice group of yearlings going to Keeneland, highlighted by our first-year sires Authentic and Vekoma,” Toffey says. “We're getting great feedback from breeders about both. Meanwhile our freshman sires have gotten off to a great start, right now we've got four of the top five, and we'll have a number of offerings by those stallions as well. Our Keeneland consignment is probably highlighted by a colt that Elite Sales will be selling for us, by Into Mischief out of Bast: obviously a tremendous pedigree, and a really impressive physical, so a horse that we're really excited to offer to buyers.”

In terms of the bigger picture, meanwhile, Gustavson professes admiration for the multi-faceted elaboration of quality to be observed such rival programs as Stonestreet.

“Obviously this is not a unique idea, what we're doing,” he acknowledges. “A lot of things that people do are just copied from competitors or friends/competitors, and that's just what we're doing here with a sort of Stonestreet model. You've got big-time mares, you still race, but you are known as someone who sells Grade A foals.”

Many other farms, equally, have emulated the brand of commercial dynamism introduced to the Bluegrass by Hughes. And Gustavson concludes by reiterating a fidelity to his father-in-law's pioneering legacy.

“We would always want to honor the past and sort of add our own flair to it, if you will,” he says. “I mean, Wayne was a bigger and better businessman than I'll ever even think about being, so there's no competing there. He did a lot of things that were very innovative, and very disruptive, and we have benefited from those over the years.

“I learned so much from him. So for Tammy and I, along with Ned and our team, it's not like we were thinking, 'Well, if we ever take the reins, this is what we'll do.' It's just the time has come where we are blessed with the opportunity to try some different things. That's where the buying of higher-end mares comes from, and we switched some things up at the farm [as well]: in terms of our protocols, in terms of the numbers we're breeding, and then also now obviously selling the top lots that we've ever had, this summer and early fall.

“We're so humbled by the opportunity to be able to carry on Wayne's legacy, and we hope that we can do it justice.”

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Ramon (R. J.) Rangel says he never would have had the opportunity he experienced Thursday–when Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) whom he co-bred with Spendthrift Farm won the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot–without the kind of breeders incentives advanced by Spendthrift Farm's founder, B. Wayne Hughes–incentives, he says, designed to help the little guy.

Hughes liked to call Spendthrift `the breeders' farm,' and when Valiant Force charged home a winner Thursday, it was because of the breeding initiatives that Hughes liked to preach–with a little kindness thrown in from across town at Mill Ridge, and a lot of hard work by Rangel himself.

Valiant Force's story starts when Mill Ridge's longtime clients John and Jerry Amerman had a homebred filly, Vigui's Heart (Quality Road), for whom they were looking for a home. “She was not going to make it to the races,” said Mill Ridge's Price Bell. Rangel, now 57, had shown horses at sales for years for Mill Ridge, and had been a breeder on a small scale. They knew he took good care of his horses, so they thought of him for the mare. “R. J. is a friend and he and his family are really good horse people, and so we decided to facilitate this for the Amermans, to find this mare a nice home. We reached out to R. J. and he and his family said they'd love to have her.”

The filly was young at the time, and Rangel cared for her until she was three, and decided to breed her.

Rangel realized that his investment of the work caring for her would be rewarded. “I got her when she was young,” he said. “She was a weanling, turning into a yearling, and when she was three, I decided to breed her to something with speed. She's a big, leggy mare, and I wanted to put some speed into her, so I went to Malibu Moon. Obviously, I couldn't afford the stud fee at that time. I think he was $50,000. I asked for a foal share, and thanks to Spendthrift, because Ned Toffey gave me the opportunity to do the foal share. And I got this nice baby. For the first baby, he was a good size, a lovely weanling, very correct. Anybody would love to have this mare. She's a nice mare and I was lucky to get this foal. I gave it to Mill Ridge to sell because they were the ones who gave me the mare.”

Bell recalled, “He was a beautiful weanling that R. J. raised and prepped, and he sold for $75,000,” said Bell. “It was a huge sale for him, and he said, `you know, when I worked here, there was always that one person who would give everyone $100 or $200 to say thank you. So, would you please tip everybody that?' I remember selling the horse and seeing the pride in his eyes, having sold a horse for that kind of money. And he just immediately wanted to take care of all the people in the barn.”

The economy hasn't always been kind to Rangel, who had worked his way up to owning a 70-acre farm in the early 2000s, only to lose it all in the economic downturn of 2008-'09.

“To make a long story short, I ended up losing everything, and I was homeless,” he said, after the bank repossessed his property. “I had to go live with my brother, and I started working at the sales, traveling around.” Finally, he wanted to settle down and stay in one place and Toffey gave him a job at Spendthrift, where he now serves as the assistant yearling manager.

Rangel works until 4 p.m. every day, and then heads to the farm where he boards his horses, to give them the care they need. “I go there before work. I go there after work and I try to take care of them. I have been very lucky to work, and do well, and make the extra effort every day. It's been a great ride. I love the horses. I love the industry. I'm just a little guy who plays on the small side.”
Vigui's Heart failed to get in foal to Lord Nelson in 2021, so Rangel has no yearling to sell this year, but in November, he will be back at Keeneland with her weanling by Mitole. Naturally, he'll sell her with Mill Ridge. She is currently in foal to Vekoma.

A native of Guadalajara, Rangel came to the United States with his father, who was a groom in California for Jack Van Berg, and he got his own start as an exercise rider. But when he first came to a horse sale in Kentucky, he says, “I realized this was the place where I wanted to be, because this is where the best is.”

He watched the Norfolk on his phone, and had staked $2 to win and $2 to place on Valiant Force, “just to support him,” he explains. “I couldn't see him because the screen was so small,” he said.

“But with two furlongs to go, he was still on the lead. With one furlong to go…still on the lead. And finally, he started to pull away. And it really touched me.” He collected $300 on the bets.

At the end of the day, he said he's grateful for the help extended to him by others in the industry.

“The guys here at Spendthrift, they work with you, they give you little breaks here and there. I asked for the foal share and Ned was very nice and gave it to me. I'm very thankful for Mill Ridge, the people that gave me the mare. I'm thankful for Spendthrift. The reason I got back into breeding was that Wayne Hughes, he always tried to help the breeders and they've got all these deals going and I saw that opportunity to come back in at a small scale and be more careful. I've been blessed because everything has gone the right way. It's all about hard work, dedication and luck. But I'm very grateful for all the people who always try to help the little people.”

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Unbeaten GII Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo), an $800,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream breezer, will carry the famed orange-and-purple colors of Spendthrift Farm while making just his fourth career start in the 149th GI Kentucky Derby.

“Our primary business really is standing stallions, but when we can go to a sale and get a horse that has a shot to make it to the stud barn, that's what we're trying to do,” Spendthrift's General Manager Ned Toffey said. “And winning a race like the Derby is obviously a big step in the right direction if you want to stand a stallion. Kingsbarns has done everything we've asked of him so far and he's done it nicely.”

Spendthrift Farm's all-conquering stallion Into Mischief, responsible for Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), will have three chances at a third bouquet of roses with longshots Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief), Rocket Can (Into Mischief) and Sun Thunder (Into Mischief).

Into Mischief's Authentic, of course, won the 2020 Kentucky Derby for a high-profile partnership headed by Spendthrift Farm. Into Mischief is also the sire of Mandaloun, who was promoted to first via Medina Spirit's well-documented medication disqualification in the following year's Derby.

“That's what breeders are looking for, to get to the Derby,” Toffey said. “Into Mischief can get you any kind of horse. He's an amazing horse and continues to get the job done.”

What do you think Mr. Hughes would say if he were still around to see this day?

“I think Wayne would be saying 'I told you so,'” Toffey said with a big laugh.

“I literally remember him saying, 'I think we might have Bold Ruler on our hands.' He said that very early on in Into Mischief's career. Now, he's a four-time consecutive Leading General Sire and has done something that's not been done since Bold Ruler. Wayne really loved this horse. He meant a lot to him.”

Forte Heads 'Strong' Hand for Pletcher…

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby twice from a record 62 starters and arguably brings his strongest hand ever to the 1 1/4-mile Classic this year. In addition to Kingsbarns, Pletcher will saddle 3-1 morning-line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) and fellow 'Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit).

Last term's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old colt Forte punched his ticket to Louisville for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable with a valiant win with a much-discussed less-than-ideal trip in the GI Curlin Florida Derby. Only Street Sense and Nyquist have pulled off the Breeders' Cup Juvenile-Kentucky Derby double so far.

The $1.3-million Keeneland September graduate Tapit Trice will put a four-race winning streak on the line following eye-catching, come-from-behind victories in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and GI Toyota Blue Grass S.

“In terms of pari-mutuel support, it's probably going to be the strongest team that we've brought,” Pletcher said. “I think only one time have we started a favorite and that was in 2017, with (Derby winner) Always Dreaming. You could argue that it was possible that Forte and Tapit Trice could be the favorite and second choice or close to it. This is the deepest squad that we've put up so far.”

Derby Quartet for Brad Cox…

Brad Cox will have four of the 19 Kentucky Derby starters, including GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), one of three Derby entries for the Albaugh Family Stables; narrow Blue Grass runner-up Verifying (Justify); the rail-drawn GII Wood Memorial S. runner-up Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}); and Louisiana Derby third and 'Rising Star' Jace's Road (Quality Road).

While officially recognized as a Kentucky Derby-winning trainer courtesy of the previously mentioned Mandaloun, Cox is still looking to experience that thrill of a lifetime winning the historic first leg of the Triple Crown.

“There was no experience of winning the Derby,” Cox said of the 2021 renewal. “It's the thrill of the victory that you're wanting to experience. There's no thrill in saying that you won the Derby through a phone call that says you were placed first through a DQ. There's no celebration. There's no win picture.”

Cox continued, “I do look forward, hopefully, this year to winning it. I think we got some really good shots. I'm sure it'd be a feeling like no other.”

In addition to Angel of Empire, Dennis Albaugh's operation also campaigns the Dale Romans-trained Florida Derby third-place finisher Cyclone Mischief and Jace's Road. The latter two are owned in partnership.

Outside Draws for Japanese Duo…

Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) (post 15), a dominating winner of the G2 UAE Derby, and GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby runner-up Mandarin Hero (Jpn) (Shanghai Bobby) (post 18) will look to continue the recent high-profile worldwide success for Japan. A sixth-place finish by Master Fencer in the 2019 Derby has been the nation's best finish in the Run for the Roses so far.

What's All the Buzz About…

Who's made the best impression in the mornings leading up to the main event? Last out GII Rebel S. winner Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) is certainly a good place to start after his visually impressive bullet workout beneath the Twin Spires last weekend. 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner), meanwhile, has given every indication in the a.m. that he's ready to run the race of his life for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen following a flat third in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. Impressive GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Two Phil's (Hard Spun) is another who has caught the eye during his morning preparations.

Stacked Derby Undercard…

Kicking off at 10:30 a.m. with another sensational forecast calling for partly cloudy skies and a high of 78 degrees, the 14-race Kentucky Derby program also prominently features: GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) in the GI Derby City Distaff S.; GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish (Curlin) in the GI Churchill Downs S.; and the highly anticipated return of last year's GI Del Mar Oaks heroine Spendarella (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. The graded stakes action at Churchill Downs is rounded out by the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic; the GII Pat Day Mile S.; the GII American Turf S.; and the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint S.

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“I grew up in San Gabriel, which is a stone throw from Santa Anita, about 10 minutes south of Santa Anita,” Barton said. “My dad, Neil Barton, owned horses back in the early '70s. And he went to a high school called Mark Keppel in Ahambra. He and Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift used to take bets out for their teachers during class. This was in the late '40s and early '50s. They would drive up to Santa Anita, make the bets and come back. My dad and Wayne were best friends forever, he was kind of like an uncle to me. So that's kind of how it got started.”

Barton's cousins Bob and Jude Feld have been involved in all facets of the game and, early on, Barton had dreams of following Jude into the Southern California training ranks.

“In the summer of 1996, when I thought I wanted to be a trainer, Jude said, 'Well, I have a string of horses at Fairplex.' I said, 'I want to give it a shot.' So that summer, I would walk hots for him. I did it for a full summer, seven days a week getting up at 4 a.m. Bob was the supervisor for that string at Pomona while Jude was at Del Mar during the summer. So Bob was running the show and I was a hotwalker. After three months of that, I said, 'I don't want to be a trainer anymore.' I went back to school that September and got my degree in finance in 1997 and went straight into auto financing.”

But Barton never lost his love of racing.

“I still had my eye on horse racing and the business,” he said. “I would go to Santa Anita whenever Wayne had a horse running–he still lived in Southern California at the time and hadn't purchased Spendthrift yet. So every time he ran a horse, my dad and I would go and I was able to pick his brain and talk about the business.”

It wasn't until 2020 that Barton finally made his first trip to Kentucky.

“My mom and dad used to come out a lot and visit Wayne and his wife Patty,” Barton recalled. “They would come home and tell me how great it is. But I never got to. Then in March of 2020, right as the pandemic hit, I kind of invited myself to Spendthrift. Wayne and his wife said, 'Yeah, come out and stay with us, you can see the farm and you can see if you like it out here.' So I got to Kentucky and I fell in love with it. I walked around Spendthrift, saw all the stallions and all the babies–it was March, so babies were being born as we were out there. My sisters and husbands were with me and they said, 'You know so much about the farm and everything,'–because I was rattling off statistics and numbers and history, they said, 'You should get a job here.' And we kind of laughed it off.”

He continued, “I went back home to California, to my auto finance, but I was kind of tired of it. I came out again to Kentucky in September of 2020 for the yearling sales. I stayed with Wayne and Patty. Spendthrift was very involved with the yearling sales, so I walked around with Ned Toffey, the general manager of Spendthrift, and their crew just learning about everything. One thing led to another and Wayne said, 'Why don't you move out here?'”

As he was contemplating the jump to Kentucky, Bob Feld introduced his cousin to Bunt, who was just launching her Baldwin Bloodstock. Bunt had been a partner in the Select Sales Agency, but was looking to pick up the slack when that consignment disbanded.

“I thought it sounded interesting,” Barton said of the opportunity to partner on the consignment, but Hughes had other ideas.

“I got on the phone with Wayne and he said, 'I don't know much about consignments. But I want you to come out here and be the tour guide for Spendthrift. You are a hard working, you like to talk, you know your history, you'd be perfect for it.'”

So Barton decided to do both. He sold his home in Southern California in February of 2021 and moved to Lexington the following month. He lived in a cabin at Spendthrift while giving tours to MyRacehorse owners.

Living on the farm gave Barton the opportunity to spend time with, and learn from, Hughes in the final months of the entrepreneur's life.

“I think he saw a little bit of my dad in me,” Barton said. “That's why we got along so well. He loved telling stories from way back when. And we talked horses and the business. And he was always worried about me. He told me, 'I think you'll do well as long as you work as hard as your dad did.'”

Baldwin Bloodstock had its biggest results at the November sales of 2021, selling C J's Gal (Awesome Again), dam of GIII Pocahontas S. winner Hidden Connection (Connect), for $450,000 at Fasig-Tipton and Jazz Tune (Johannesburg), dam of GI Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) for $585,000 at Keeneland.

By 2022, the Baldwin consignment to the Keeneland November sale included 24 horses and was led by a son of Tiz the Law who sold for $105,000.

After that success with a first-crop sire, Baldwin returns to the Keeneland January sale with six horses, four of whom are short yearlings by first-crop sires. The group includes a filly by Global Campaign (hip 111), a daughter of Gift Box (hip 181), a filly by Higher Power (hip 1128), and a colt by Thousand Words (hip 1166).

“I know those first-crop sires, those babies sold well for all of them pretty much, we just hope it keeps going,” Barton said.

The Baldwin consignment also includes a short yearling filly by GI Belmont S. winner Tapwrit (hip 1175), whose unbeaten 3-year-old son Victory Formation just acquired GI Kentucky Derby points with a win in the Smarty Jones S. Sunday at Oaklawn. The gray filly is the first foal out of stakes-placed Duchess of Sussex.

“We are excited about her,” Barton said. “Duchess of Sussex was a black-type placed filly owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. She has Eclipse written all over her because they owned Tapwrit and they owned Duchess of Sussex. And the timing is perfect with Victory Formation winning Sunday.”

The Baldwin consignment is rounded out by the 6-year-old broodmare Mopolka (Uncle Mo) (hip 962), who is offered in foal to Improbable.

“These days everybody is looking for young broodmare prospects, so we like her a lot,” Barton said.

The business partnership between Barton, with his financial background, and Bunt would seem to be a match made in heaven. Bunt's vast experience in the racing industry includes stints with Coolmore in Australia, Van Meter Sales, Niall Brennan Stables and Eaton Sales, as well as time as a veterinary technician at Hagyard Davison McGee.

“Together, we make a great team,” Barton said. “It's absolutely perfect that I handle the financial stuff and she does the horse stuff. I am learning more about the horse stuff, about conformation. I knew a little bit about the breeding, but I am learning more. And you can't help but learn when you are around Amy because she just knows so much. If anyone was born to be in this business, it's her. She lives and breathes it. And I am starting to do that myself.”

As for the future of Baldwin Bloodstock, Barton said, “Hopefully someday we would like to get into the yearling sales, but right now we are still focused on the weanlings and mixed sales. I'd like to go Maryland and maybe Saratoga, we will see how it goes. We would love to expand, but still keep it small enough to where we can provide the attention that the horse and the client deserve.”

The Keeneland January sale will be held next Monday through Thursday with bidding commencing each day at 10 a.m.

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Named in honor of the farm's late founder, the 7,000 square-foot, two story facility will serve as the home for Spendthrift's tourism. The building is located between the farm's stallion complex and main office and features a trophy room, which showcases Spendthrift's collection of trophies, artifacts and racing memorabilia, as well as a gift shop.

Spendthrift owners Eric and Tammy Gustavson led the grand opening and credited Tammy's father Hughes for his vision behind the facility.

“He loved this farm, he loved the horse industry, and he grew to love the idea of tourism,” Eric Gustavson said. “He recognized its value and its ability to draw in fans and potential owners. He was always trying to grow the game. Tammy and I are honored to name the visitors center after him and to have this be a small part of Wayne's legacy and his impact on our industry.”

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Gustavsons were joined by VisitLex President Mary Quinn Ramer and Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton.

“In the Thoroughbred business, Spendthrift has made history over and over again,” said Gorton. “Some of the best have roamed these fields…Today we're dedicating this beautiful new visitors center, a place that will welcome tourists. It is places like this that make Lexington special and unique. This reminds us how important it is to protect our Bluegrass countryside.”

Senator Damon Thayer and Congressman Andy Barr were also present for the event.

The newly-unveiled Malibu Moon memorial statue stands in front of the visitors center and portrays the farm's foundation sire facing his old paddock. Read more about the making of the bronze sculpture from the artist himself, Douwe Blumberg, here.

“Malibu Moon was vitally important to this farm,” Gustavson said. “Wayne had a tendency to speak very simply, and very simply he said that Malibu Moon started Spendthrift Farm. And it's true. We were a fledgling farm and Malibu Moon was a perennial leading sire. He put us on the map and gave us legitimacy. It was the start of something that became what we are now.”

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“The B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center has really come together, and the addition of the Malibu Moon statue in front is a special highlight that we are all very proud to see go up,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift General Manager. “We look forward to unveiling the visitors center Breeders' Cup week as part of the celebration surrounding our industry's championship event.”

At nearly 1,700 pounds, the bronze sculpture of Malibu Moon is scaled at 110% life size and portrays him as the mature breeding stallion he was during his time at the farm. He faces his old paddock in the foreground and old stall at the stallion complex in the background.

“Malibu Moon put the Hughes/Gustavson version of Spendthrift Farm on the map,” said Spendthrift owner Eric Gustavson. “He was a consistent leading sire at the time Wayne purchased the farm, and for years following. You could say, as Wayne often did, 'Malibu Moon made Spendthrift Farm'”.

The Malibu Moon statue was sculpted by artist Douwe Blumberg at the foundry in Norman, OK. Blumberg and his team began the year-long project in September of 2021.

A foundation stallion for Spendthrift, Malibu Moon was a perennial leading sire in North America for the better part of this century, siring 17 Grade I winners to date including 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb and champion 2-year-old colt Declan's Moon among several other top-class millionaires on the racetrack.

The B. Wayne Hughes Visitors Center will serve as Spendthrift's new home for tourism. The 7,000 square-foot, two-story building is located in the heart of the historic farm, interconnecting Spendthrift's stallion complex to the main office. The facility contains a trophy room, a gift shop, outdoor & indoor entertainment space and office space, and it features the farm's collection of prized trophies, artifacts, and other memorabilia on display.

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Beholder's (Henny Hughes) career-capping victory by a nose over the previously unbeaten champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) in the 2016 GI Breeder's Cup Distaff was nearly as gripping on the big screen at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion as it was live at Santa Anita Park. For sheer drama it ranks with the finish of the 1988 Distaff when Personal Ensign (Private Account) rallied to overtake Goodbye Halo (Halo) and GI Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors (Caro) to complete her career unbeaten.

With a slew of impressive statistics, Beholder and the seven other members of the Class of 2022 joined Personal Ensign in the Hall of Fame, which fittingly is located across Union Ave. from historic Saratoga Race Course. Beholder and Tepin (Bernstein) were elected by Hall of Fame voters in the contemporary division; Hillsdale (Take Away), Royal Heroine (Ire) (Lypheor {GB}) and trainer Oscar White were selected by the Historic Review Committee; three were honored in the Pillar of the Turf category: James Cox Brady, Marshall Cassidy and James Ben Ali Haggin.

This year's event had a smaller crowd than usual, possibly because there were no contemporary trainers or jockeys inducted. All four of the people who received racing's highest honor for their distinguished careers, have been dead for decades. Haggin, a remarkable owner and breeder, who at one time owned 1,500 broodmares, was born 200 years ago.

Beholder, owned by the late B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm and trained by Richard Mandella, completed her brilliant career with a record of 18-6-0 from 26 starts and earnings of $6,156,600. She was a four-time champion, won three Breeders' Cup races and a total of 11 Grade I races. She won at least one Grade I in each of her five seasons on the track.

“It's an amazing and humbling honor for us to see our greatest race-mare, our once-in-a-lifetime horse enshrined next to the many others that came before her,” said Eric Gustavson, Hughes's son-in-law and the president of Spendthrift. “Beholder is already in the Hall of Fame now, so what you're getting feels like I'm lobbying for her to get in.”

Gustavson cited some of the high points of Beholder's career and acknowledged by name the people who worked with her, starting with the breeders, Fred and Nancy Mitchell of Clarkland Farm. He said Mandella, who had to miss the ceremony because he had tested positive for Covid-19, deserved credit for Beholder's success, “for his masterful horsemanship, patience and judgment, and managing Beholder's incredible career. Thank you, Richard.”

“I once heard Richard say, 'I can't get out of the horses what God didn't put in,'” Gustavson said. “Well, thank you God for giving Beholder so much talent. And thank you Richard for getting it all out of her.”

As he began to talk about Hughes, who died in August 2021, Gustavson paused for nine seconds to regain his composure.

“You should be standing here right now instead of me,” Gustavson said. “And while we're sorry, he didn't get to see Beholder win her final honor. We take solace in remembering how much Beholder meant to Wayne. You see, Wayne never got too attached to his race horses. They meant a lot to him, but he just wasn't the type to allow his emotions to come along for the ride. Until Beholder that is. She changed him in that regard. Following Beholder's impressive win against the boys in the 2015 [GI] Pacific Classic, Wayne said 'I've had a few good horses in the past, but she's the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I've never had that feeling before. I think it's called pride.'”

Owner Robert Masterson saluted Tepin's Hall of Fame induction at the venue where he purchased her for $140,000 just over a decade ago. She emerged as a champion turf horse as a 4-year-old, winning 11 of her last 15 races, including the G1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, the second of her three victories over males, and won two division titles.

“The one thing about Tepin that I really admired was the more she raced and the more success she had, the greater the following she seemed to get from the people,” Masterson said. “The fans seemed to start to really love her. The first time I recognized it was when she overcame a 13-length deficit to win a Grade II [Hillsborough S.] at Tampa Bay Downs. When she crossed the finish line, there was just as an eruption of applause. It was like a crescendo at the end of a concert that was so good. And when she won up in Woodbine in Canada when she beat the boys in the Grade I [Woodbine Mile S.], we're having the trophy presentation, and we stopped the trophy presentation to recognize the fans who shouted loudly, 'Tepin. Tepin. Tepin.' It was such an appreciation from the Canadian fans.”

He continued, “Then again when she finished second in the Grade I at Santa Anita at the Breeders Cup [2016 Mile], when she was leaving, to go back to the barn, the grandstand started going, 'Tepin. Tepin. Tepin.' I think that was because she finished the last quarter of that Breeders Cup, the fastest quarter ever recorded on the grass at Santa Anita. And the fans really appreciated that even though she came up half a length short.”

Masterson told a story about seeing a family at Saratoga wearing homemade Tepin shirts and said she had a bar named for her at the track after her score at Royal Ascot.

“On behalf of Tepin and myself, I want to thank all the fans who came out and reacted positively to her and loved to watch her race,” Masterson said. “I want to thank Mark Casse and his son Norm for the excellent training job they did on her. I want to thank Julien Leparoux for the rides. I want to thank [David] Greathouse for helping me find her right here at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale. And I want to thank the Hall of Fame committee for recognizing her accomplishments and voting her into the Hall of Fame. It's such an honor.”

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