Unique Bella tops talented cast for Santa Ynez Stakes
ARCADIA, Calif. – January sprints for 3-year-old fillies do not normally include as much star power – real or imagined – as the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita.
But this is no ordinary Santa Ynez. It includes the most talked-about filly in California, whose only win was against maidens. Another is one of the fastest in the country, based on a romp at Delta Downs, and another is a Grade 1 winner trying to restore a reputation.
Meet three principals in the seven-furlong Santa Ynez – the highly regarded Unique Bella, 96 Beyer Speed Figure earner Shane’s Girlfriend, and Noted and Quoted, unplaced in the Breeders’ Cup.
Nine entered, including the most intriguing of the crop. She is Unique Bella, a tall, rangy daughter of Tapit who is a star in the making.
“We’re very optimistic about this filly,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.
It was an understatement because Unique Bella has been the most widely discussed filly on the circuit since she entered training last spring.
Unique Bella, produced by 2010 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Unrivaled Belle, never was a secret. She was odds-on in her June 23 debut at Santa Anita, based on pedigree and team workouts. Hollendorfer suspected she was the real deal.
“All you have to go on is the works,” he said. “I put her with other horses that I knew could run a little bit. And if she could stay with them, or beat them, that’s a positive. And she did.”
Unique Bella lost first out, finishing second after a slow start and a wide trip. It was a promising debut. But then her shins flared up. She stayed in light training as Hollendorfer took his time. Managed properly, tender shins are not necessarily serious.
“You have to be very careful, there’s a fine line,” Hollendorfer said. “If the shins are sore and you do too much too soon, you are looking at a big problem, so you try to do enough work to keep them going and get them over the shins.”
He trained Unique Bella lightly into the summer, and her shins flared up again.
“Sometimes you have to turn a horse out and let them get over it that way,” Hollendorfer said. “But most guys try to get a horse through shins [by training lightly].”
Unique Bella got over her shins, resumed a work pattern in the fall, and made her second start Nov. 26 at Los Alamitos. She won by 10 1/4 lengths.
Although it is premature to compare Unique Bella to Songbird, Hollendorfer said that “one characteristic they do have in common is that when they breeze, they don’t really look like they’re going as fast as they are.”
Unique Bella’s workouts into the Santa Ynez are super, including an easy half-mile on Wednesday that looked like 48 seconds and change, or slower. She went in 47.80.
Hollendorfer also starts It Tiz Well in the Santa Ynez. She won her second start, trouncing maidens by 10 lengths. Hollendorfer said, “She trains well and is doing well.”
For both Unique Bella and It Tiz Well, the hike from maiden to Grade 2 is steep, particularly when facing graded winners Shane’s Girlfriend and Noted and Quoted.
Shane’s Girlfriend, trained by Doug O’Neill, followed her debut victory with a blowout at Delta Downs. She won the Grade 3 Delta Princess Stakes by more than 13 lengths and earned a 96 Beyer that was the highest in 2016 by a juvenile filly on a fast track.
Beyond racing ability, Shane’s Girlfriend has the right disposition, according to O’Neill.
“She’s good in the stall,” he said. “She has a lot of class. When she’s out of the stall, she’ll prick her ears and bite at you. She’s got some ‘feist’ to her.”
Noted and Quoted won the two-turn Chandelier Stakes in the fall, then finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup. Trainer Bob Baffert said he believes she wants one turn.
“I think that’s what she wants to do, sprint,” Baffert said. “Now that I haven’t been training her to go long, she’s training better. [Some] fillies, when you stretch them out, they get light, they can’t really take it.”
Others in the Santa Ynez are Resilient Humor, who overcame trouble to win her debut in better-than-it-looked fashion, Sandy’s Surprise, Carrie, Princess Karen, and Go On Mary.
Santa Ynez, Race 8
KEY CONTENDERS
Unique Bella, by Tapit
Last 2 Beyers: 87-73
◗ Mike Smith rides Unique Bella, a $400,000 yearling purchase by Don Alberto Stable.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Unique Bella. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is 7-5-0-1 with a $4.51 ROI over the past five years in dirt sprint graded stakes in Southern California with Mike Smith aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
Shane’s Girlfriend, by Adios Charlie
Last 2 Beyers: 77-96
◗ From post 8 of nine, jockey Flavien Prat has the option to either press or go on with it.
Noted and Quoted, by The Factor
Last 3 Beyers: 62-80-69
◗ Martin Garcia takes over for Rafael Bejarano.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Noted and Quoted. Trainer Bob Baffert is 27-7-2-2 with a $3.54 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt in graded stakes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Resilient Humor, by Distorted Humor
Last Beyer: 73
◗ She overcame trouble to win her debut and galloped out big after the wire. Though possibly overmatched, she will roll late at a price.