Beholder to defend Zenyatta crown

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Two-time champion Beholder will take on five challengers Saturday at Santa Anita in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the newly installed main track.

The Zenyatta is a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" stakes for the Distaff to be held at Santa Anita on Oct. 31.

Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, Beholder will begin defense of her 2013 Zenyatta victory from post 4 with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith substituting for another Hall of Fame rider, Gary Stevens.

"Smith is at the top of his game and he's a top rider," said Mandella.

Beholder, who was injured during the Ogden Phipps Stakes on Belmont Stakes Day June 7, won the Eclipse Award as champion 2012 2-year-old filly and 2013 3-year-old filly.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm, Beholder won last year's Distaff to go along with her victory in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The filly won this season's Santa Lucia before finishing fourth behind Close Hatches in the Phipps.

Leading up the 2013 Distaff, Beholder won the Las Virgenes, Santa Anita Oaks, Torrey Pines and Zenyatta. She was second last year in the Santa Ynez and Kentucky Oaks.

With nine wins from 14 career starts Beholder has banked $3,188,300.

Here is the field for the Zenyatta in post position order: Tiz Midnight, Victor Espinoza; Iotapa, Joe Talamo; Yahilwa, Rafael Bejarano; Beholder, Mike Smith; Wittgenstein, Mario Gutierrez; and Tiz the Key, Tyler Baze.

Post time for the Zenyatta will be approximately 5:30 p.m. ET.