Beholder Mile (Santa Anita Park) Predictions, Odds & Picks

Check out our predictions and odds for the 2021 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita Park!

Best Bets for the Beholder Mile

Here are my plays ($40 in total)

$10 Exacta part wheel – Swiss Skydiver  over Harvest Moon and Sanenus = $20

$10 Trifecta Key – Swiss Skydiver  over Harvest Moon and Sanenus = $20

Top Pick:

Swiss Skydiver (8/5)

Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, will make her highly anticipated seasonal debut on Saturday as she headlines a field of eight sets to square off in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver will look to add on to a season that saw her run at nine different tracks in 10 races around the country, including two starts against the colts. She won five stakes races, none bigger than when she defeated the male champion Authentic and a full field of boys in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes. This will be her first start since a disappointing finish after a bad break from the gate in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Chief among her rivals in the $300,000 feature includes a trio of talented females in Harvest Moon, As Time Goes By, and Sanenus.

Harvest Moon had a four-race winning streak snapped when she ran a good fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in her most recent effort for trainer Simon Callaghan. As Time Goes By is a lightly raced daughter of American Pharoah from the barn on Bob Baffert and comes in off an impressive allowance score, while Sanenus scored her first victory in American last time in a romping win in the Grade 3 La Canada at Santa Anita.

How to Watch the Beholder Mile

Race Analysis

Swiss Skydiver

What a wonderful season this daughter of Daredevil had last year. She danced every dance, traveled all over the country, and never slowed down. Proven over the track, as an impressive winner of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks last spring, she will look to get her career as an older filly off to a big start in this Grade 1 test. She’s been working well for trainer Kenny McPeek and should be ready to flash her early speed on Saturday. The question then becomes, will her excellent campaign of 2020 only make her better for this year, or will the challenging season take something out of her after the layoff? A good version of the Preakness winner will win this, but there are some tough fillies and mares in here if she stumbles at all. She is the top pick but will need to bring something close to her best to get the job done on Saturday.

Harvest Moon

If it weren’t for the champion listed above her, I think this daughter of Uncle Mo would be getting a whole lot more attention for her 4-year-old debut. After a decent career debut last summer on the grass for trainer Simon Callaghan, she became a real force on the dirt, winning four straight races at three different tracks in Southern California. The last two came in graded stakes and prompted her connections to ship her to Keeneland to face the big girls in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She wasn’t quite good enough but certainly was not embarrassed. She has speed enough to lay close and then has a strong finishing punch to make her a threat in any race. The mile trip should also suit her well. She is the biggest threat to Swiss Skydiver.

As Time Goes By

With only four lifetime starts, this Bob Baffert-trained daughter of American Pharoah has picked a difficult spot to make her stakes debut. Luckily for her, she clearly has a whole lot of talent. Breaking through to win her maiden easily in her third start, she turned it up last time in her first start at 4, winning off by 9-lengths. Regally bred, she gives every indication of being a real up and comer. So much so, that I expect her to be heavily wagered on Saturday and may even be the second choice. Because of the big jump in competition, I will lay off her, although I do recognize that she is a danger in here.

Sanenus

Bred and raced in Chile, this Group 1 winner in her native land is really starting to put things together of late. In four starts in the US beginning with last August at Del Mar, the daughter of Scat Daddy has improved each time. Two starts back she ran a good second to Finite in the Grade 3 Chilukki at Churchill Downs, before announcing herself in her return to Southern California. Trained by Mike McCarthy, she turned in a breakthrough performance when stalking and pouncing in the Grade 3 La Canada. The 6-length win points her out as a serious horse, who should be well suited for the one-mile trip on Saturday. She’s likely only the fourth choice in here, but she has a real shot to do better than that.

Golden Principal

The second talented filly trained by Bob Baffert in the race, she has turned things around nicely in her last four starts. After two poor efforts in the summer at Del Mar, the daughter of Constitution has run well ever since. In her last two, she was good enough to grab second in a pair of graded stakes at 7 furlongs. Unfortunately, she was not a big threat at the wire in each, and now she only faces tougher in the Beholder Mile. She’s sharp and a threat with her early speed, but probably just a cut below the best in here.

Miss Stormy D

This consistent mare from the barn of Carla Gaines has moved into graded stakes competition of late and did not embarrass herself with a fourth in the Bayakoa, followed by a second in the La Canada. After a decent effort in a turf allowance, she returns to graded stakes racing here, but this time she is facing even more talent than before. Look for her to be involved early, but I do not like her chances to be there late on Saturday.

Clockstrikestwelve

The good news for this Jonathan Wong-trained mare is that she will ride a five-race winning streak into the Grade 1 Beholder Mile, and she has done it at different tracks and on different surfaces. Unfortunately for her, all of those wins came at a much lower level of competition than what she will face on Saturday. The steep bump in class figures to be much more than the daughter of New Year’s Day can handle.

This Tea

This daughter of Curlin is the filly that finished second, 9-lengths behind As Time Goes By in that one’s allowance romp. This Tea has started twice since, and while she did finally earn her first victory two starts back, she looks hopelessly out of her element against Swiss Skydiver and this bunch.