Bellafina Back for More in La Brea Stakes

Kaleem Shah's three-time grade 1 winner Bellafina has proved to be quite the bridesmaid—not visiting the winner's circle since last April's Santa Anita Oaks (G1)—but she is the class of the line-up for the Dec. 28 La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

The 3-year-old Quality Road  filly seems to be in her comfort zone for the seven-furlong La Brea, one of six graded races on a delayed opening day program at the "Great Race Place." Bellafina, coming off a second-place finish behind top sprinter Covfefe in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) over the trip and surface, has four graded stakes wins on the main track at Santa Anita.

She'll break from post 5 in a nine-horse field. Flavien Prat retains the mount for trainer Simon Callaghan.

The leading money winner in the field of 3-year-old fillies with earnings of $1,386,725, Bellafina will face stiff competition from recent grade 2 winner Bell's the One, who ships in from her New Orleans base; Bob Baffert's Mother Mother, who's been second twice to the top choice; and trainer John Shirreffs' improving allowance winner Hard Not to Love.

Bob Lothenbach's Bell's the One, by Majesticperfection, ran off with Keeneland's Lexus Raven Run Stakes (G2) in mid-October. She makes her first start on the West Coast in the La Brea, with a :48 flat half-mile work Dec. 22 under her belt. Unplaced in the grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park, she was second in Churchill Downs' Eight Belles Stakes presented by Derby City Gaming (G2) Kentucky Derby weekend.

First Star, a lightly raced daughter of First Dude , is back in Southern California for the La Brea after a promising second in the Raven Run. The Florida-bred chestnut owned by Albert and Kathleen Mattivi, won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight and a one-mile allowance optional claiming event during the Del Mar stand prior to the Raven Run and has been working forwardly for the La Brea. First Star worked six furlongs in 1:13 4/5 Dec. 18, the best of 10 on the work tab.

"She's doing really well," said trainer Ron Ellis. "I purposely kept her schedule light because she's a light-framed filly. She's shown she has a lot of talent, and she's pretty smart."

First Star is out of the English Channel  mare Via Regina and was bred by Catherine Ann Perez and Richard Allan Heysek. A $7,200 Ocala Breeders' Sales' October yearling in 2017, Ellis purchased her for $35,000 from All Dreams Equine at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Maryland.

Entered off a long layoff is Mother Mother, who races for George Bolton, Barry Lipman, Barry Hall, Mark Mathiesen, and Andrew Molasky. She chased Bellafina home last winter in both the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) and Las Virgenes (G2) while sprinting, then was second, beaten a head, in Keeneland's Beaumont Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G2) and was unplaced in the Eight Belles. Baffert will try for his eighth La Brea win and first since 2012.

Ontario-bred Hard Not to Love, by Hard Spun , has won three of four starts but is untested at this level. A $400,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate, she is owned by Mercedes Stables, West Point Thoroughbreds, Scott Dilworth, Dorothy Ingordo, David Ingordo, and Steve Mooney. Dorothy Ingordo is Shirreffs' wife.

All four of Hard Not to Love's starts have been at Santa Anita and all at seven furlongs or shorter. She took an allowance optional claiming race, at six furlongs, Oct. 25 and was third in her prior effort, the seven-furlong listed Angels Flight Stakes in early May.

The La Brea goes as race seven on the card, with a post time of 2:18 p.m. PDT.

Entries: La Brea S. (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, December 28, 2019, Race 7

• Grade I
• 7f
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 2:18 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1First Star (FL)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Ronald W. Ellis	4/1
2	2Del Mar May (KY)	Joe Bravo	120	Richard Baltas	12/1
3	3Free Cover (KY)	Abel Cedillo	120	Andrew Lerner	15/1
4	4Stirred (KY)	Geovanni Franco	120	Michael W. McCarthy	20/1
5	5Bellafina (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Simon Callaghan	9/5
6	6Bell's the One (KY)	Javier Castellano	122	Neil L. Pessin	7/2
7	7Hard Not to Love (ON)	Mike E. Smith	120	John A. Shirreffs	6/1
8	8Motion Emotion (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	120	Richard Baltas	15/1
9	9Mother Mother (KY)	Joel Rosario	120	Bob Baffert	6/1