Hard Not to Love Turns Back Bellafina for La Brea Score

Ontario-bred Hard Not to Love turned back 3-5 favorite Bellafina by 2 1/4 lengths and helped carry Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith into the record books Dec. 28 in the $301,404 La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

The 3-year-old daughter of Hard Spun  rallied from the back of a nine-horse field to become Smith's 216th grade 1 winner, a number that tied the all-time record set by retired Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.

Smith wasted no time exceeding that record when he won his 217th grade 1 later on the same card, piloting Omaha Beach  in the Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1).

Hard Not to Love may have been making her graded stakes debut, but her pedigree speaks to her class. A half sister to three-time Sovereign Award winner Wonder Gadot, Canada's Horse of the Year in 2018 and winner of the Queen's Plate over males, she was bred by Anderson Farms out of the Vindication mare Loving Vindication.

With Smith aboard for the second time off a three-quarters of a length score in a six-furlong allowance Oct. 25 at Santa Anita, Hard Not to Love turned in an eye-opening rally in the La Brea when she moved from last with three furlongs left to go. Her sustained charge carried her down the outside off the turn for home, and she collared Bellafina inside the sixteenth pole to win going away.

Bellafina, making her first start since a runner-up finish in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly And Mare Sprint (G1), was racing for the first time for a partnership comprised of original owner Kaleem Shah, and new co-owners Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. She took command out of the chute and onto the course proper to set fractions of :21.70, :44.41, and 1:09.31, then was challenged around the far turn by Mother Mother, who got on terms with her a quarter mile remaining. Although she shook clear of that rival a furlong from the finish, she was no match for the winner late.

Victor Espinoza, who picked up the mount on Bellafina when Flavien Prat took off his Saturday mounts due to illness, was proud of his filly's effort.

"The outside horse (Mother Mother) was sort of pressing me on the pace a little bit, but nevertheless she was comfortable," Espinoza said. "When we were heading for home around the eighth pole, she was still running, but then in the blink of an eye, I was like, 'Wow, what happened?' She ran a great race for her first race back from the Breeders' Cup. That's hard for any horse. She ran a good, solid second today."

Mother Mother was third behind a final time of 1:22.17, slightly faster than Omaha Beach's 1:22.33 Malibu clocking.

Picking up her first top-level score for Mercedes Stables, West Point Thoroughbreds, Scott Dilworth, Dorothy and David Ingordo, and Steve Mooney, Hard Not to Love was sent off at odds of 11-1 and returned $25.20 on a $2 win ticket. She took home $180,000 for the win, increasing her earnings to $288,480 from four wins in five starts, with a third in the Angels Flight Stakes at Santa Anita her lone defeat. 

"My hat's off to West Point Thoroughbreds, John Shirreffs, and the whole barn, so many people," Smith said. "They work so hard with this mare. She has one eye (her right) so she gets a little bit of anxiety at times. We work hard with her and it's great to see the hard work that we put in pay off today."

"She was really a handful going to the gate," Shirreffs said. "She only has the one eye, and when she gets nervous, she tends to spin around to see. This was a great race to win. For a filly to win a grade 1, that's like a PhD, so it makes it especially fulfilling. 

"Mike has really made a difference with her. When he made the decision to ride her, he put his reputation as a horseman on the line. I think that made this even more special."

Loving Vindication failed to meet her reserve at $1.45 million last year at The November Sale, Fasig-Tipton's elite breeding stock sale in Lexington. She dropped a Curlin  filly in 2019 and was bred to Medaglia d'Oro  for 2020.

Video: La Brea S. (G1)