Unique Bella Puts on a Show in Beholder Mile

Unique Bella | Benoit

Champion Unique Bella put on the show her fans were hoping for, battling MGISW Paradise Woods early and blowing her away in the stretch for a dominant victory in the Santa Anita's GI Beholder Mile Saturday. Away alertly from her outside draw in this six-horse affair, the 1-2 favorite allowed her chief market rival to dictate terms, but remained glued to her side through sharp early fractions of :22.51 and :44.96. Bored with sitting second, the massive gray filly took command entering the far turn with Mike Smith still motionless in the irons and the race was over from there. Unique Bella instantly powered clear of Paradise Woods in the stretch and stormed home to the easiest of wins. La Force came running late to close the gap and Paradise Woods faded to third.

“We expected Paradise Woods to go out there like she did and Mike didn't want to let her get away,” said Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer. “It's nice to get her back home and it was nice to have Gary [Stevens] present the trophy.”

“It was always going to be a little bit of a chess match between me, Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) and Paradise Woods,” said Smith. “I was pretty sure that if I got away well, I would go ahead and take it and I figured that Paradise Woods would be the speed today. I just have way too much respect for [the owners] to let Paradise Woods just take it and Unique Bella doesn't like it if you take hold of her either. She likes to take it to the completion and sometimes it can hurt you at the end.”

Smith added, “She's so talented though, that she puts so much ground between you and the competition that they can't make it up. You've got to literally come home the last quarter in :20 to catch her.”

Ruling the West Coast 3-year-old fillies last winter with decisive scores in the GII Santa Ynez S., GII Las Virgenes S. and GIII Santa Ysabel S., Unique Bella was forced to miss the GI Kentucky Oaks due to sore shins and resurfaced with a facile victory in the GIII L.A. Woman S. in October. Seventh as the heavy favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint, the 'TDN Rising Star' made amends with a 3/4-length decision over fellow 'Rising Star' Paradise Woods in the GI La Brea S. in Arcadia Dec. 26, which earned her the Eclipse as the year's top female sprinter. Kicking off this term with a nine-length romp in the GII Santa Maria S. Feb. 10, the $400,000 KEESEP buy was caught late and forced to settle for second after bobbling at the break of Oaklawn's GI Apple Blossom H. last time Apr. 13.

Pedigree Notes:

Unique Bella's dam Unrivaled Belle would be a champion herself had she not had her career-best year in 2010, which was Hall of Famer Zenyatta's final year on the racetrack. The gray scored back-to-back victories in that term's GIII Rampart S. and GII La Troienne S. and finished second in her next three starts, all of which were in Grade I company. She closed out 2010 with a career high, winning the GI Breeders' Ladies Classic over 2010 champion 3-year-old filly and race favorite Blind Luck (Pollard's Vision) and 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace (Saint Liam).

Making just two starts in 2011, Unrivaled Belle was retired and sent through the ring at Keeneland November, where she summoned $2.8 million from Brushwood Stable. She went back through the Keeneland ring in November 2016 and topped the sale on a final bid of $3.8 million from Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm. A daughter of MGSW Queenie Belle (Bertrando), the 12-year-old mare has a 3-year-old filly named Relicario (Malibu Moon), who sold for $550,000 at KEESEP and is currently racing in Japan. Unrivaled Belle failed to get in foal to Bernardini the following year, but produced the filly Unrivaled Princess (Tapit) in 2017 and foaled a Tapit colt Jan. 28 of this year.

Saturday, Santa Anita
BEHOLDER MILE S.-GI, $400,000, Santa Anita, 6-2, 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:35.60, ft.
1–UNIQUE BELLA, 121, f, 4, by Tapit&log=">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. $240,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. Female Sprinter,
11-8-2-0, $1,092,400. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”][bullet ad=”eaton-sold”]2–La Force (Ger), 121, f, 4, by Power (GB)
1st Dam: La Miraculeuse (Ger), by Samum (Ger)
2nd Dam: L'Heure Bleue (Ire), by Kendor (Fr)
3rd Dam: Loire Princesse (Ire), by Tate Gallery
(€22,000 RNA Ylg '15 BBAGS). O-Roberta & Ward Williford &
Charles N. Winner; B-Gestut Karlshof (GER); T-Patrick
Gallagher. $80,000.[bullet ad=”german-horsepower”]3–Paradise Woods, 123, f, 4, by Union Rags&log=">Union Rags
1st Dam: Wild Forest, by Forest Wildcat
2nd Dam: Uforia, by Zilzal
3rd Dam: Long Legend, by Reviewer
'TDN Rising Star' O-Steven Sarkowsky, Martin J. & Pam
Wygod; B-Herman Sarkowsky (KY); T-Richard E. Mandella.
$48,000.[bullet ad=”hidden-brook-hidden-brook-foaled-raised”][bullet ad=”blackwood-graduate-2″]Margins: 2 1/4, 5HF, 4HF. Odds: 0.50, 24.70, 2.50.
Also Ran: Vale Dori (Arg), Munny Spunt. Scratched: Mopotism.
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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