Major wins: Santa Ynez Stakes (2013), Las Virgenes Stakes (2013), Santa Anita Oaks (2013), Zenyatta Stakes (2013, 2014, 2015), Santa Lucia Stakes (2014, 2015), Adoration Stakes (2015, 2016), Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (2015), Pacific Classic (2015), Vanity Mile (2016),

Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (2012), Breeders' Cup Distaff (2013, 2016),

Awards: American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly (2012), American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly (2013), American Champion Older Dirt Female Horse (2015, 2016),

Honors: U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (2022), Beholder Mile Stakes

Post-racing career: Became a broodmare and has produced several offspring.

May 9 - Beholder

This filly would go on to be one of the great iron horses of the track by winning stakes races over the course of five different annual campaigns. Not only did she win stakes races, but she took home the Eclipse Award for her group in four of those years.

Hold that thought for a moment.

We were publishing the book, A Brush With Greatness, and one of the fun components is that we acquired quotes on each of the 79 horses in the book from their connections: an owner, a breeder, or a trainer. I approached Wayne Hughes at the Spendthrift party. Beholder had just won her first Eclipse Award and was at that moment listed for the upcoming sale. She was good. She was a Grade 1 winner, but her career was relatively brief at that point. Mr. Hughes was standing with trainer Richard Mandella who had handled the filly perfectly. Hughes looked at Mandella and then back at me, "She's the greatest filly of all-time." He paused and nodded, "Yep, that's it - the greatest filly of all time."

That was the nightmare that Ed Bowen and I had feared. We were sure that we might get that quote 79 times about 79 different horses from each of their owners, but this was it, the one time . mentioned it to Eric Gustavson and Ned Toffey who ran the day-to-day stuff. Their eyes got as big as saucers. They said that they'd come up with something a little more user-friendly for the book - and they did.

When the book came out, Ned reached out to me to tell me that Mr. Hughes was going around the office showing off the book as something amazing, no mention that his quote might not be exactly what he told me.

Later, Beholder would be removed from the sale and continue racing for Spendthrift. As mentioned, she raced year after year, banking over $6 million along with her stash of Eclipse trophies.

You know, in retrospect after her racing career was over, maybe Mr. Hughes' extravagant claim that Beholder was the greatest filly of all time might not have been as much of a stretch as it sounded when she was three years old.