As the broodmare manager at Spendthrift Farm, Aimee Compton admits that finding time to watch live racing rarely makes the top of her to-do list. Overseeing Spendthrift's band of around 100 broodmares keeps her daily schedule packed. But 10 years ago, there was one extraordinary race mare whose starts were mandatory viewing.In 2016, Beholder (Henny Hughes) was putting the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career. Already a two-time Breeders' Cup heroine and fresh off an undefeated 2015 season highlighted by an 8 1/4-length romp over males in the GI Pacific Classic Stakes, the Spendthrift colorbearer entered her 6-year-old campaign still at the top of her game.Compton, like the rest of the team at Spendthrift, didn't miss a race.“She was doing such a great job and it was so exciting to watch,” she recalled. “I was wondering when I would get her as a broodmare, so you're watching with that in the back of your mind too.”After two early-season victories, Beholder entered the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff looking to avenge three straight Grade I runner-up efforts, including two behind champion Stellar Wind (Curlin). Both that rival and the undefeated 3-year-old Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) were favored over the veteran mare as she returned to the Breeders' Cup stage for the first time in three years, seeking one last victory to cap her career.What followed was one of the most memorable stretch duels in modern racing history. Locking heads at the top of the lane, Beholder and Songbird battled stride-for-stride down the stretch before the more seasoned champion thrust her nose in front at the wire.After working with Beholder for nearly a decade now, Compton has come to understand the competitive fire that fueled the star mare's narrow victory.“She's very smart and she has a lot of guts too,” she explained. “She won't back down here on the farm when she has something that she wants to do.”After a storybook career finale, Beholder boarded a flight to Kentucky to begin her next chapter.Compton has worked at Spendthrift since 2000, dating back to before B. Wayne Hughes's acquisition of the farm, but the arrival of a three-time Breeders' Cup champion marked one of the most monumental days of her career.Beholder and Songbird battle down to the wire in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Distaff | Breeders' Cup Eclipse Sportswire“I remember being nervous because she was a big, big deal and we wanted everything to be perfect,” she recalled. “We had people here filming her and I was a little nervous about how everything was going to go, but she handled it really well. I remember feeding her a carrot and just imagining what it was going to be like to take care of her because she was such a special horse.”Those early years were marked by a few extra nerves, though Beholder handled the career transition seamlessly. Now, having overseen the champion through eight foalings, Compton notes that while the pressure never entirely dissipates, she has grown far more accustomed to the annual bout of anticipation that comes when Beholder is ready to foal.Paco Rangel joined the Spendthrift team as assistant broodmare manager shortly after Beholder's arrival. For him, getting to work alongside a racehorse of her caliber was an immediate perk of the job.“That was one of the first things I wanted to go do when I started here was go out and see her,” he admitted.Since then, Rangel has overseen many of Beholder's foalings, including her Grade I-winning daughter Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) and Grade III winner Teena Ella (War Front). Beholder's recent offspring include a 2-year-old filly by Jackie's Warrior, a Gun Runner yearling colt and a National Treasure colt foaled on April 6 this year.Rangel noted that while all foalings at Spendthrift follow the same routine, a distinct energy surrounds the barn whenever Beholder is due.Beholder and Paco Rangel at Spendthrift | Sara Gordon“A week before, everybody is keeping an eye on her 24-7,” he said. “Everybody tries to be there for it. She owns this farm.”As the reigning queen of Spendthrift, the 2022 Hall of Fame inductee operates with an unmistakable air of authority.“She's definitely a diva,” Compton said with a laugh. “She's fine with people and she likes attention to a point, but she's not super cuddly. She's very intelligent and is friendly when treats are involved. She's good at staring down the aisle looking one way and the other, posing and kind of working the crowd that way. Once she knows that the treats are not there anymore, she's happy to go back into her stall and ignore people too.”Rangel added, “She's really good to work with and we can do everything we want with her, but if she doesn't like something, we've got to find another way, a better way. When you're trying to do something that she doesn't like, she is going to let you know.”For both Rangel and Compton, caring for a horse of Beholder's caliber remains a daily privilege and a reminder of what it means to work alongside living history.“I still do think about her as being special,” Compton noted. “It's a little humbling sometimes. It doesn't feel like I should be managing a horse that great, but it gives me some pride to think about.”“A lot of times I'm holding her or doing something with her and I say, 'Look at me! I'm holding the best mare ever,'” said Rangel. “So I do brag about it and tell people that I work with her. When a lot people hear I work at Spendthrift, they ask me, 'Do you know this mare?' And I go, 'Beholder? Yeah, I work with her every day.' It feels good to talk about it.”The post Hands on History: A Decade Later, Beholder Still the Queen at Spendthrift appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.