HEAVILY FAVORED UNIQUE BELLA SPEEDS TO 2 ¼ LENGTH WIN IN GI BEHOLDER MILE

By Mike Willman —-

Unique Bella; Zoe Metz Photos

HEAVILY FAVORED UNIQUE BELLA SPEEDS TO 2 ¼ LENGTH WIN IN GRADE I, $400,000 BEHOLDER MILE; SMITH & HOLLENDORFER TEAM FOR MILE SCORE IN 1:35.60

ARCADIA, Calif. (June 2, 2018)—Saturday’s Grade I, $400,000 Beholder Mile quickly developed into a match race as Paradise Woods, under Flavien Prat and Unique Bella, with Mike Smith up, matched strides from the gate to the far turn, whereupon Unique Bella gained a half length advantage a quarter mile out and then coasted to a 2 ¼ length win. Owned by Don Alberto Stable and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Unique Bella, last year’s Eclipse Champion Female Sprinter, stopped the clock in 1:35.60.

“We expected Paradise Woods to go out there like she did and Mike didn’t want to let her get away,” said Hollendorfer. “It’s nice to get her back home and it was nice to have Gary (Stevens) present the trophy.”

Most recently second in the Grade I Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park April 13, Unique Bella was the overwhelming 1-2 favorite in a field of five fillies and mares and paid $3.00, $2.20 and $2.10.

“It was always going to be a little bit of a chess match between me, Vale Dori and Paradise Woods,” said Smith, who has been aboard the 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred daughter of Tapit in all 11 of her starts. “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.

“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 (seconds) to catch her.”

Owned by Don Alberto Stable, Unique Bella notched her second career Grade I, to go along with her seven furlong victory over Paradise Woods in the La Brea Stakes on Dec. 26. A seven-time stakes winner (all at Santa Anita), Unique Bella is now 11-8-2-0 overall and with the winner’s check of $240,000, she now has earnings of $1,092,400

German-bred La Force, who was last after the first half mile, rallied well to be second, finishing some 5 ½ lengths in front of Paradise Woods. Ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, La Force was off at 24-1 and paid $7.00 and $3.00.

Paradise Woods tired badly, but finished 4 ½ lengths in front of Vale Dori, who was never a factor. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Paradise Woods was off at 5-2 and paid $2.10 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.51, 44.96, 1:09.34 and 1:22.15.

First post time for a nine-race card on Sunday is at 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10 a.m. For additional racing information, please visit santaanita.com.

GR. I BEHOLDER STAKES QUOTES
$400,000
JOCKEY QUOTES

MIKE SMITH, UNIQUE BELLA, WINNER: “It was always going to be a little bit of a chess match between me, Vale Dori and Paradise Woods. I was just going to see who broke better than the others and who was going to take the initiative. 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 Don Alberto 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 competition and sometimes it can hurt you at the end.
“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 twenty to catch her.
“So there’s some good things about it but if I was able to settle a little more, which I think I would have if Vale Dori got away a little better and went with Paradise Woods, then I would have maybe taken a little hold of her. In saying that though, it’s very dangerous because she’s liable to get very upset.
“She’s very temperamental and you’ve really got to get along with her. Even if I am getting along with her, something else could set her off. The gate could set her off, the ponies tale could swish and hit her…so, you’ve just got to hope everything goes well. They (the gate crew) know here really well here. She’s very unique…Bella.”

DRAYDEN VAN DYKE, LA FORCE, SECOND: “I kept her back where she was comfortable They were flying up front and she finished well.”

TRAINER QUOTES

JERRY HOLLENDORFER, UNIQUE BELLA, WINNER: “We expected Paradise Woods to go out there like she did and Mike didn’t want to let her get away. It’s nice to get her back home and it was nice to have Gary (Stevens) present the trophy.”

FEBRIZIO BUFFOLO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DON ALBERTO STABLE, UNIQUE BELLA, WINNER: “First and foremost I have to say that the owners came in from Chile this morning and were able to see her for the first time run here in the Beholder and to see their own filly win, and so aggressively, was exciting for them, so I’m very excited as well.
“They wish there were more Grade I’s here at Santa Anita because she loves it here and going two turns here was worth it.
“We’re so pleased with Jerry and his team for doing an exceptional job with this mare.”

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Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.