Don Alberto Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' Unique Bella (Tapit) generated considerable buzz after breaking her maiden by
10 1/4 lengths at second asking going 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 26, and the imposing gray established herself as a force to be reckoned with in a commanding 7 1/4-length romp as the even money second choice in Sunday's GII Santa Ynez S. at Santa Anita. Easily dispatching her foes with a seemingly effortless four wide move on the far turn, Unique Bella won with the greatest of ease as stablemate and fellow 'Rising Star' It Tiz Well (Arch) completed the exacta.
Unique Bella was tabbed as the 3-10 favorite in her June 23 unveiling in Arcadia, but was left with too much work to do after a slow start and forced to settle for second in the five-panel dash. Given some time off following that effort, the daughter of 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song) returned with a vengeance, dominating the Nov. 26 Del Mar maiden heat in wire-to-wire fashion.
Unique Bella was originally slated to face eight rivals for this stakes debut, but four foes scratched in the morning, leaving her as the second choice in a short-but-sweet five-horse field that included the likes of post-time favorite and GIII Delta Princess S. heroine Shane's Girlfriend (Adios Charlie). Away a touch slowly, the $400,000 Keeneland September graduate stalked the pace from fourth as a three-way tussle developed through a quarter-mile in :22.33. Sweeping to the lead four-wide at the five-sixteenths pole, the filly cruised away by the eighth pole and came under the wire well wrapped up, well in front of It Tiz Well, who had previously decimated a Dec. 18 Los Alamitos maiden event by 10 lengths. Shane's Girlfriend, meanwhile, occupied the middle spot in the three-prong duel for command and gradually weakened to finish third.
With her victory, Unique Bella earned 10 points towards a spot in the starting gate for the May 5 GI Kentucky Oaks.
“I've always liked her,” said Hollendorfer, who added that he had no concrete plans for the filly's next race. “Today, she showed that she's brilliant. We thought she'd jump out of there a little better. I thought she would be close to the lead. Mike [Smith] used his judgement, got behind and then got to the outside so it worked out well–and our other filly also got
Grade II-placed, so we're very pleased right now.”
Winning rider Mike Smith, who also pilots Hollendorfer's once-beaten champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro), added, “She was a little aggressive in the gate and she was off a tad slow. I probably could have moved her…but I was scared to do that and make her react and do something I wouldn't want her to do.”
Pedigree Notes:
In addition to her win at the World Championships, 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, acquired Unrivaled Belle for $2.8 million at the 2011 Keeneland November sale and parted ways with the gray for $3.8-million carrying a full-sibling to the winner at the same sale in 2016. She 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
SANTA YNEZ S.-GII, $200,000, SA, 1-8, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:22.21, 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: 3-2-1-0, $162,400.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”][bullet ad=”eaton-sold”]2–It Tiz Well, 120, f, 3, Arch–It Tiz, by Tiznow. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*.
'TDN Rising Star'($230,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Tommy Town
Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Allen Branch & Susan Branch (KY);
T-Jerry Hollendorfer. $40,000.
3–Shane's Girlfriend, 122, f, 3, Adios Charlie–Western Tornado,
by Proud Citizen. ($95,000 2yo '16 OBSOPN). O-ERJ Racing,
LLC, W. C. Racing & Dennis O'Neill; B-Ocala Stud (FL); T-Doug F.
O'Neill. $24,000.
Margins: 7HF, 2HF, 2HF. Odds: 1.00, 12.00, 0.80.
Also Ran: Princess Karen, Resilient Humor. Scratched: Carrie, Go On Mary, Sandy's Surprise, Noted and Quoted. 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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