Santa Margarita Draws 10 in Unique Bella's Absence

The whole complexion of the $400,000 Santa Margarita Stakes (G1) March 17 at Santa Anita Park changed with one defection.

After a cough, a round of antibiotics, and some missed training because of wet conditions, the connections of champion female sprinter Unique Bella decided to skip Saturday's race. So what looked like a five- or six-horse field turned into a field of 10—with three supplemental nominations of $8,000 at entry time.

BALAN: Unique Bella Aims for Apple Blossom

"That changed everything, didn't it?" said trainer John Martin, who will ship Troy and Maritza Onorato's Mended south from his Golden Gate Fields base for her second graded stakes try. "A friend of mine—a handicapper—tipped me off and said (Unique Bella) wasn't going. We were looking for a softer spot (in the March 25 Harry W. Henson Handicap at Sunland Park), because we didn't want to hook Unique Bella."

Mended, a $12,500 claim by Martin in January of 2017, enters the Santa Margarita off her first graded try in the Jan. 13 La Canada Stakes (G2). The Broken Vow  mare carried a 10-race win streak into the La Canada, but saw that streak end in the final strides, when fellow Santa Margarita entrant Mopotism just got up to win by a head.

CROSBY: Mopotism Breaks Through in La Canada Photo Finish

"She's really a hard trier," Martin said. "I was on the wire, and I was disappointed that she lost, because she wins every time. It looked like she was going to get home at the sixteenth pole, but that horse just got her."

Reddam Racing's Mopotism, one of two graded dirt winners in the Santa Margarita field, then came in second in the Feb. 10 Santa Maria Stakes (G2)—nine lengths behind Unique Bella.

But while Mopotism was nominated for the Santa Margarita early on, Madeline Auerbach, Bardy Farm, and Ron McCauley's Majestic Heat, who won the Dec. 3 Bayakoa Stakes (G2), was supplemented.

"It's because I made the stupid decision not to nominate for the Santa Margarita," trainer Richard Mandella said of Majestic Heat's entry. "With (Unique Bella) not going, I had to reconsider."

The third supplemental entry for the 1 1/8-mile test is Keith Brackpool's Dalsaros, a lightly raced 5-year-old Unbridled's Song mare out of multiple grade 1 winner Ask the Moon. Trained by Carla Gaines, Dalsaros has a 2-1-0 record from five starts and won an entry-level optional-claiming allowance in January and finished second last time out Feb. 23 at the next allowance condition.

The third graded winner in the field reached that level last time out on grass, and while trainer Phil D'Amato said Agave Racing Stable and Little Red Feather Racing's Fault may still be cross-entered in the March 18 Santa Ana Stakes (G2T), the opportunity at a grade 1 on dirt may be too good to pass up.

"Even with (Unique Bella) being in there, it would have made it a small field, and placing in a dirt grade 1 would add to her value," D'Amato said of the Feb. 17 Buena Vista (G2T) winner. "That was the plan. But now that (Unique Bella is) not in there, you have a lot of people shooting for a grade 1 win on the dirt.

"She trains like a dirt horse, but you never know with these turf horses. I've put her behind horses (in training), she's eaten a lot of dirt, and still breezed by (her workmate). I've tested her as much as I could."

Even without Unique Bella, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has a pair entered for the Santa Margarita in allowance winners Eccentric Spinster and Turkish Tabby (who is also stakes-placed). Rounding out the field is Mistressofthenight, who defeated Dalsaros Feb. 23; La Force, who finished just a head behind Mended and a neck behind Mopotism in the La Canada; and East Coast shipper Bishop's Pond, who won the Jan. 8 Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes last time out at Laurel Park.

Entries: Santa Margarita S. (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, March 17, 2018, Race 9

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:18 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1La Force (GER)	Mike E. Smith	120	Patrick Gallagher	6/1
2	2Turkish Tabby (KY)	Rajiv Maragh	120	Jerry Hollendorfer	15/1
3	3Mended (KY)	Ricardo Gonzalez	120	John F. Martin	6/1
4	4Dalsaros (KY)	Tyler Baze	120	Carla Gaines	12/1
5	5Mistressofthenight (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	120	Richard Baltas	8/1
6	6Majestic Heat (CA)	Corey S. Nakatani	120	Richard E. Mandella	6/1
7	7Bishop's Pond (KY)	Victor Espinoza	120	Jason Servis	6/1
8	8Eccentric Spinster (KY)	Joel Rosario	120	Jerry Hollendorfer	15/1
9	9Mopotism (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	120	Doug F. O'Neill	7/2
10	10Fault (KY)	Geovanni Franco	120	Philip D'Amato	4/1