Faypien, Unique Bella drill for La Brea Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - The graded stakes winners Faypien and Unique Bella worked at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a first-ever meeting in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs Dec. 26.

The $300,000 La Brea Stakes is part of the opening-day program of Santa Anita’s winter-spring meeting.

Unique Bella, a four-time graded stakes winner, worked five furlongs in 58.80 seconds, the fastest of 55 recorded works at the distance.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Unique Bella was seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 4, setting the pace for the first half-mile before fading from contention.

“She went too fast,” Hollendorfer recalled Sunday.

Faypien worked five furlongs in 1:01. Trained by Bob Baffert, Faypien was second in the minor Beverly Lewis Stakes at Los Alamitos in September in her last start. Earlier this year, Faypien won the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita and was second in the Grade 1 Test Stakes at seven furlongs at Saratoga.