Beholder Mile at a Glance: Adare Manor the Pick

The 2024 season for top-level older fillies and mares begins in earnest March 9 when Santa Anita Park‘s Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) offers top-level status to some of the division’s better runners.

Previously called the Vanity Mile and held in the summer, this race has an impressive list of past winners that includes classic winner Swiss Skydiver , Blind Luck , Zenyatta , Azeri , and Beholder herself, for whom the race was renamed in 2017. The Beholder Mile has become an early season proving ground for the leading Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) contenders since it was moved to March in 2019.

The Beholder Mile is the final leg of Saturday’s Coast to Coast Pick 5, a pick 5 bet encompassing a five-race sequence of pre-selected races from two of the top tracks running at this time of year—Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. The $1 minimum bet has a player-friendly 15% takeout.

1. Coffee in Bed (15-1 morning-line odds): Was a game second in the La Canada Stakes (G3) at a longer 1 1/16-mile distance on this main track at Santa Anita. Seems to be getting better with more experience and could be a threat with the help of a ground-saving trip.

JOCKEY: Mike Smith; TRAINER: Richard Mandella

2. Adare Manor (5-2): Only disappointing effort in seven 2023 starts was the Breeders’ Cup Distaff when she was seventh. Beyond that had a combined four grade 1 and 2 wins and loves this track as evidenced by 10 starts with six wins and three seconds. Looks like a major player.

JOCKEY: Juan Hernandez; TRAINER: Bob Baffert

3. Green Up (3-1): Ships from the East Coast for Todd Pletcher. She has raced sporadically, making just two 2023 starts, yet she’s been quite effective in her eight career races with five wins and a second. Should be part of the early pace and could hang around until the finish with her best effort.

JOCKEY: John Velazquez; TRAINER: Todd Pletcher

4. Desert Dawn (8-1): She won the La Canada Stakes by a length and seems to be in career-best form at the age of 5. Will be a major threat if the early pace turns out to be extremely rapid.

JOCKEY: Antonio Fresu; TRAINER: Phil D’Amato

5. Interstatedaydream (4-1): Switches to Pletcher’s barn for this start after being purchased in the fall. Has won two in a row but her biggest win was a grade 2 score in May 2022. Has plenty of talent but may be a cut below the top ones in this field.

JOCKEY: Frankie Dettori; TRAINER: Todd Pletcher

6. Sweet Azteca (3-1): Comes off a 12-length win but that was in an allowance optional claiming race. This is much deeper water for a filly who has yet to race beyond 6 1/2 furlongs.

JOCKEY: Flavien Prat; TRAINER: Michael McCarthy

7. Kirstenbosch (15-1): She’s usually competitive but seems better suited for a seven-furlong test than a mile. Was fifth in this stakes last year. Another who would benefit from a quick pace.

JOCKEY: Hector Berrios; TRAINER: John Sadler

8. Turnerloose (30-1): Has lost her last 11 starts, and this seems an unlikely spot to end that streak.