Don Alberto Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Unique Bella (Tapit) more than lived up to her significant hype with a jaw-dropping 8 3/4-length demolition of the field in Sunday's GII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita–her first try around two turns. Taking control with a wide sweep past a quick half-mile, she easily dispatched 2016 champion juvenile filly Champagne Room (Broken Vow) and bounded away with ease. The win marked the second graded stakes win of the imposing gray's career, having previously captured the Jan. 8 GII Santa Ynez S. in similarly facile fashion.
“I was pretty confident when Mike kind of made his move early,” winning trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “I knew that he knew he had a lot of horse, so he just went for it and it turned out well. She did settle, and the reason she went was Mike felt like he had a lot of horse. So when he did that, I felt pretty confident that she would really lay it down.”
Unique Bella was away a step slowly and got rolling too late when second as the 3-10 favorite in her June 23 career debut sprinting five furlongs at Santa Anita, but the filly made amends for that defeat with a unopposed 10 1/4-length romp traveling 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 26.
Earning 'Rising Star' status with that performance, the daughter of 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic winner Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song) returned to Arcadia for the Santa Ynez and was somewhat surprisingly let go as the second choice in wagering behind GIII Delta Jackpot S. winner Shane's Girlfriend (Adios Charlie). The $400,000 Keeneland September yearling buy left little to doubt when the running began in the Santa Ynez, however, sweeping to the front with ease en-route to a 7 1/2-length triumph. The form of that race received a boost when Unique Bella's second-finishing stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' It Tiz Well (Arch) returned to comfortably annex a seven-furlong optional claimer Friday.
Sent off the 1-9 favorite Sunday, Unique Bella was again outfooted for the early lead and chased Mopotism (Uncle Mo) and Champagne Room while racing three wide through an opening quarter in :22.82. She rushed up to take the lead midway down the backstretch and was 1 1/2 lengths in front after a blistering half in :45.62. She extended her advantage turning for home and sailed further clear down the lane under a motionless Mike Smith, completing the mile in 1:35.66. Mopotism was second and Champagne Room was third.
“It's crazy how she gets up underneath herself,” said Smith, referring to his filly's adaptable style. “She's very athletic. I was really happy with the way that she settled. I could have taken her farther back. You want to experiment but you don't want to do something so drastic that you completely throw them off their game. I didn't want to grab her any harder. She was very happy. She was pricking her ears and having a good time. I was very happy to let her do whatever she wanted to do after that.”
Unique Bella is Hollendorfer's second exceptional 3-year-old filly in as many years, having conditioned Fox Hill Farms' Songbird (Medagalia d'Oro) to her second championship campaign in 2016. With her win, the gray vaulted herself into third on the GI Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 20 points, just three behind leader Champagne Room. She is also nominated to the Triple Crown series.
“I really like to concentrate on the filly races,” Hollendorfer commented. “If an opportunity came to do something else we'd probably have to consider that, but I'd like to keep her against the fillies if I can…I'd like to keep her in California [for the GI Santa Anita Oaks Apr. 8], just like I did with Songbird last year. There's enough money to run out here and run against the girls, not the boys. I think we'll try and run here and if we'd be fortunate enough, we'd point to the (Kentucky) Oaks.”
Pedigree Notes:
In addition to her Breeders' Cup success, millionaire Unrivaled Belle captured the GII La Troienne S. and GIII Rampart S. and finished in the trifecta in all but one of her 14 career starts. Unique Bella's breeder, Brushwood Stable, purchased Unrivaled Belle for $2.8 million at the 2011 Keeneland November sale and parted ways with the gray for a sales-topping $3.8-million carrying a full-sibling to the winner at the same sale in 2016; that Tapit filly has since been foaled as property of Whisper Hill Farm. Unrivaled Belle is also responsible for a 2-year-old filly by Malibu Moon named Relicario who sold for $550,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. Second dam Queenie Belle (Bertrando) captured two graded stakes races and is herself a half-sister to GSW Canon Can (Green Dancer).
Sunday, Santa Anita Park
LAS VIRGENES S.-GII, $196,000, SA, 2-5, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:35.66, ft.
1–UNIQUE BELLA, 120, f, 3, by Tapit
1st Dam: Unrivaled Belle (GISW, $1,854,706),
by Unbridled's Song
2nd Dam: Queenie Belle, by Bertrando
3rd Dam: Lady Argyle, by Don B.
'TDN Rising Star' ($400,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Don Alberto
Stable; B-Brushwood Stable (PA); T-Jerry Hollendorfer; J-Mike
E. Smith. $120,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $282,400.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”][bullet ad=”pa-bred”][bullet ad=”eaton-sold”]Werk
Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mopotism, 118, f, 3, Uncle Mo–Peppy Rafaela, by Bernardini.
($135,000 Wlg '14 KEENOV; $200,000 Ylg '15 FTSAUG;
$300,000 2yo '16 FTFMAR). O-Reddam Racing LLC; B-Frank T
Batten (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $40,000.[bullet ad=”blandford-stud-foaled-and-sold”][bullet ad=”hidden-brook-sales-graduate”][bullet ad=”crupi-trained”][bullet ad=”mcmahon-and-hill-purchased-as-a-wnlg”]3–Champagne Room, 123, f, 3, Broken Vow–Lucky to Be Me, by
Bernstein. ($70,000 Wlg '14 KEENOV; $55,000 RNA Ylg '15
KEESEP; $310,000 2yo '16 OBSAPR). O-Ciaglia, Exline-Border,
Gulliver Racing, R. Christensen, D. Legan, S. Alesia; B-Respite
Farm (KY); T-Peter Eurton. $24,000.[bullet ad=”nick-de-meric-consigned-by-de-meric-sales”][bullet ad=”denali-sold”]Margins: 8 3/4, 1 1/4, 11HF. Odds: 0.10, 13.20, 4.80.
Also Ran: Miss Southern Miss. Scratched: Mistressofthenight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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