Unique Bella Ships in for Apple Blossom

The gray dynamo from California is taking her show on the road.

Don Alberto Stable's grade 1 winner Unique Bella, champion female sprinter of 2017, will be out of her element for the first time in the $700,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13 at Oaklawn Park, and not only because she'll be making her first start out outside of the Golden State.

Throw in an expected storm in Hot Springs, Ark., and she also could face a wet track for the first time.

"We've never run in the mud, so you don't know for sure," said Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. "The best ones all seem to handle it. But everyone is going to be on equal footing. We all have to deal with it."

Highweighted at 123 pounds, the 4-year-old Tapit  filly will give from six to 11 pounds to the six challengers scheduled to line up against her in the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom, and she has been tabbed the 2-5 morning-line favorite. She departed from her Santa Anita Park base the morning of April 11.

Tapit Ranked in Top 10 on General Sire List Early This Year

"Any horse you take on the road—you have to take that as a consideration. How will they handle the trip?" Hollendorfer said. "The logistics to Arkansas are quite good, though. It's not a long flight, and they go directly from here, unload, and go right to the track."

The field features four other multiple graded stakes winners—Tiger Moth, Unbridled Mo, Streamline, and Farrell—but they have not displayed the brilliance of Unique Bella since her off-the-board run in the Breeder's Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).

Unique Bella ended her 3-year-old season with a determined victory over fellow grade 1 winner Paradise Woods in the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes (G1), which almost surely sealed her championship. She then stretched out to two turns for the first time in 11 months to take the Santa Maria Stakes (G2) by nine lengths. Her recent works have caught the eye of the racing community, and she logged her final breeze in preparation for the Apple Blossom April 8 at Santa Anita.

BALAN: Unique Bella Logs Final Breeze for Apple Blossom

None of the six other Apple Blossom entrants has a last-out victory, and many of them downright misfired in their last-out efforts.

Three come out of the March 17 Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn won by Martini Glass. The best performance of the three came from Coffeepot Stables' Farrell, who finished third after setting the pace. The Jan. 13 Pippin Stakes winner at Oaklawn, Farrell is a four-time grade 2 winner and at this time last year was a favorite on the road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).

Nancy Vanier and Cartwright Thoroughbreds' Streamline has the most experience at Oaklawn (three wins and seven placings from 11 starts) and recent success on a sloppy track at the Arkansas oval, when she defeated fellow Oaklawn standout Terra Promessa in the Feb. 17 Bayakoa Stakes (G3).

BLOODHORSE STAFF: Streamline Turns Back Terra Promessa for Bayakoa Score

However, Streamline finished eighth in the Azeri, well behind Farrell and fourth-place finisher Tiger Moth, who won the Jan. 28 Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) on a "good" racetrack at Sam Houston Race Park in her previous start.

BALAN: Tiger Moth Just Gets Up to Take Houston Ladies Classic

While Unique Bella will represent the West Coast, Red Oak Stable's Unbridled Mo, the second choice at 5-1, will ship in from the East. The Todd Pletcher-trained Uncle Mo  mare, who won a trio of grade 3 races at three different racetracks in 2016 and 2017, made her return to racing off a 10-month layoff in the Feb. 19 Royal Delta Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where she finished fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind winner Martini Glass.

Rounding out the field is stakes-placed allowance winner Fuhriously Kissed and minor stakes winner Beach Flower.

Entries: Apple Blossom H. (G1)

Oaklawn Park, Friday, April 13, 2018, Race 9

• Grade I
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $700,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 5:39 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Tiger Moth (KY)	Fernando De La Cruz	117	Brad H. Cox	12/1
2	2Unbridled Mo (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	116	Todd A. Pletcher	5/1
3	3Fuhriously Kissed (KY)	C.J. McMahon	113	Anthony T. Quartarolo	30/1
4	4Beach Flower (KY)	Ramon A. Vazquez	112	McLean Robertson	30/1
5	5Unique Bella (PA)	Mike E. Smith	123	Jerry Hollendorfer	2/5
6	6Streamline (IL)	Gary L. Stevens	116	Brian Williamson	10/1
7	7Farrell (KY)	Channing Hill	117	Wayne M. Catalano	6/1