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While I wouldn't go so far as to say her BC effort validated any of her slower performances last year or was evidence of holding something in reserve all along, based on the speed figure and the resolve displayed versus Beholder I felt that she had the potential to move up numbers-wise at 4 (as Sky Beauty did) and more than likely silence the concerns about her overall ability.
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After two starts so far this year, that hasn't happened, but there are extenuating circumstances (layoff, shipping cross country, physical issues) that may be delaying any "maturity". But considering her record (nearly unbeaten), she doesn't appear to be one that needs to race to reach top form. Maybe she is simply a high 90 BSF horse and that's that.
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I've been arguing that a lot of fillies mature earlier than the male counterparts and we know that a lot of fillies don't make the turn from one year to the next very well. She may be one of them. I'm willing to give her one more start this year before concluding anything because this last race was at 10F and she may not want to go that far.
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But for the Pacific Classic, Beholder was pretty much a "slow" horse, too, but her vast number of accomplishments assure her place in history.
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This is where I disagree with a lot of people.
Most horses (especially very fast speed horses) run figures that approximate their level of ability most of the time. Horses that win handily or that close and look look like they had a lot in reserve after the wire typically do so because they got a great trip or ran among much weaker. So when they get tested under tougher circumstances they actually wind up running slower instead of faster.
However, some horses actually do have more in the tank and haven't run faster because the demands of the races have not required it. Races aren't time trials. Horses use each other as prompters. They get in position to win and then only do serious running when required. Sometimes that will not maximize their final time. We see this to an extreme in turf racing, but it happens sometimes on dirt also among great horses and very lightly raced horses.
That's why people throw around the word "test".
The "test" determines whether you are category 1 (most horses) or category 2 (a horse with a little more in the tank than the speed figures indicate).
