Beholder captured her seasonal debut with ears pricked (Benoit Photos)

Beholder threw her hat in the ring for top distaffer honors on Sunday when cantering home the most effortless of winners in Santa Anita Park's $80,500 Santa Lucia following a more than five-month break. The bay miss turned the 1 1/16-mile contest into a paid workout, sailing home under a motionless Gary Stevens in 1:42 3/5 on the fast dirt.

Beholder gave notice of what was to come last November at Santa Anita when denying multiple Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta a third straight Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic triumph. The Henny Hughes filly romped by 4 1/4 lengths in the Distaff, subsequently earning a second Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old filly to go with her champion two-year-old filly trophy, and was given a couple of months off before returning to the worktab in late February.

Trainer Richard Mandella took his time with Beholder, and her much anticipated return to action went off flawlessly.

A beaming Gary Stevens was full of praise for Beholder following the Santa Lucia (Benoit Photos)

Heading into the final turn Beholder had pulled herself even with Legacy and quickly drew off while still under what appeared to be a gallop. The four-year-old bay was never asked and finished 5 1/4 lengths in front of Legacy, who had 4 3/4 lengths to spare on third-placer Irish Presence. Moulin de Mougin came next and City at Dawn trailed home in last.

Beholder is now 9-3-0 from 13 lifetime starts, with her only non-top two finish coming as a fourth in her career debut in June 2012. Since then the Spendthrift Farm colorbearer has reeled off wins in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and Distaff, Grade 1 victories in the Las Virgenes, Santa Anita Oaks and Zenyatta, and a tough-beat half-length second in last year's Kentucky Oaks to Princess of Sylmar, whom she gained a measure of revenge against by defeating in the Distaff.

With $3,123,300 in earnings to her credit, Beholder is expected to face Princess of Sylmar and fellow four-year-old Close Hatches, who ran second in the 2013 Distaff, on June 7 in Belmont Park's Grade 1, $1 million Ogden Phipps going 8 1/2 furlongs.

Bred by Clarkland Farm, Beholder came to B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthrift Farm as an $180,000 Keeneland September yearling. The Kentucky-bred miss is out of the stakes-winning Tricky Creek mare Leslie's Lady, making her a half-sister to Grade 1-scoring sire Into Mischief as well as the dam of this year's Kentucky Derby hopeful and Spiral runner-up Harry's Holiday.

This is the same female family as yet another Grade 1-winning stallion in Roanoke.