Uni returns to form with repeat victory in First Lady

Make it two for Uni.

Spectacular winner of the 2019 First Lady Stakes at Keeneland, Uni put her best foot forward for the first time this year scoring a sharp one-length win in the Grade 1, $350,000 First Lady on Saturday. Uni, under Joel Rosario, roared past her favored Chad Brown-trained stablemate Newspaperofrecord in the final furlong while holding clear a late run from Beau Recall, who finished very fast to gain second over Newspaperofrecord.

The First Lady is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series offering automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Uni last year was supplemented into the BC Mile, which she won, and will be pointed toward the Mile again, Brown said.

The First Lady marked Uni’s first win since the Breeders’ Cup last November. The start of her 2020 campaign was delayed by a combination of COVID-19 and a minor setback, and Uni looked ring-rusty when she finished a decent third behind Newspaperofrecord and Beau Recall in the Just a Game Stakes on June 27. Uni raced a notch below her best in the Just a Game, but went far off form when Brown brought her back into action in the Fourstardave Stakes on Aug. 22 at Saratoga, where Uni was a dull seventh.

“I was very confident going into the race that she would run her race, win or lose,” Brown said. “She really had trained well. The Fourstardave will be the biggest mystery of my career, when it’s all said and done. We’ll still be talking about it. I just drew a line through it.”

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Indeed, Uni put to rest any idea she was never coming back to her old, best self fairly early in the First Lady. Uni came from 11th winning the 2019 First Lady, but Daddy Is a Legend’s scratch Saturday left a field of just five in this First Lady, and Rosario was able to keep Uni in touch with pace-setting Crystal Lake around the first turn and down the backstretch. Crystal Lake, opening several lengths on a somewhat headstrong Newspaperofrecord, went 23.89 for the first quarter-mile and 47.92 to the half before getting swallowed up by superior foes. Newspaperofrecord was the first to pounce but Uni and Rosario shadowed her every move, seemingly in control of the race, pressed on toward the new leader in upper stretch, and went past convincingly.

“I was closer and looked like she was comfortable there,” Rosario said. “I was just trying to save [something] for when I ask her. She’s nice to ride – so easy.”

Off six furlongs in 1:12.48 and seven furlongs in 1:23.56, Uni was timed in 1:34.90 for the mile on firm turf. She got her final quarter mile in just over 22 seconds, really flying, though Beau Recall somehow came home even faster in a fine performance. Dalika, who had a poor start, finished a soundly beaten fourth, Crystal Lake fading to last.

Newspaperofrecord suffered her second straight loss after beginning her season with eye-catching performances in the Intercontinental and the Just a Game, both one-turn races at Belmont. Ridden for the first time by Tyler Gaffalione, she was somewhat headstrong during the early and middle stages.

“I would have liked to see her roll along a little bit more and run a little freer on the turn,” said Brown. “That said, she didn’t get a bad trip at all. For Tyler’s first time riding her, he did the best that he could; he certainly wasn’t in a fight with her.”

Brown suggested Newspaperofrecord could be pointed to the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes in California.

Brown trains Uni ($6.80) for Michael Dubb, Head of Plains Partners, Robert LaPenta, and Bethlehem Stables. The 6-year-old mare, who began her career in France and won for the 11th time in 21 starts, is by More than Ready out of Unaided, by Dansili.

--additional reporting by David Grening