Champion Beholder's first foal, Q B One, set for debut at Santa Anita
Q B One, the first foal out of four-time champion Beholder, is set to make his long-awaited racing debut on Sunday at Santa Anita for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.
A 3-year-old homebred for Spendthrift Farm, Q B One is entered in a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds and older going 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track. Also in the field of seven is a pair of first-time starters for trainer Bob Baffert: Shaaz, also by Uncle Mo and a $1.1 million purchase at auction last year as a 2-year-old; and Hopkins, a $900,000 auction purchase by Quality Road.
As for Q B One, he has not had an easy time making the races. He had his first work for Mandella in March 2020 and had remained on a steady training regimen until late July, when he was sent to the sidelines. Q B One returned last December, worked seven times, but then the plug was pulled again in mid-January.
Mandella referred to Q B One at the time as a "gangly" colt who needed more time to mature. Finally, Q B One returned to Mandella this past summer and had his first breeze Sept. 27. He has worked 11 times in preparation for his debut.
“He trains good and I think racing will make him better but I don’t know that his mind is really on it yet," Mandella said on Tuesday. "We’ll get a race into him and I’d expect going short he’ll probably settle back and finish well, getting him started for better things down the road.”
Beholder, a future a Hall of Famer, won 18 of 26 starts with six seconds while banking $6,156,600 for Mandella and Spendthrift. Winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Breeders' Cup Distaff twice, Beholder was champion 2-year-old filly in 2012, champion 3-year-old filly and champion older female in both 2015 and 2016.
In addition to Q B One, Beholder also has an unraced 2-year-old filly by Curlin named Karin With An I and a yearling filly by War Front named Teen Ella.
Q B One's debut is carded as the fourth race on Sunday, with a scheduled post time of 3:30 EST.