Bellafina Untouchable in Santa Ynez
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Photo: BENOIT PHOTO
Bellafina romps in the Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita
It's safe to say jockey Flavien Prat didn't have much concern as to what kind of horse he had underneath him midway through the turn in the $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) Jan. 6 at Santa Anita Park.
Cruising aboard Kaleem Shah's Bellafina in the seven-furlong dirt test for 3-year-old fillies, Prat had just pulled ahead of early leader Mother Mother, whose jockey, Drayden Van Dyke, was already starting to shove on to keep up.
Prat's hands barely moved as his filly glided away, but he calmly took a set of goggles off his face, then took another set down a couple strides later.
There wouldn't be any more dirt in his face, anyway.
The rest of the race was a procession. Without any asking, the Simon Callaghan-trained Quality Road filly powered away at the top of the lane and extended her lead to the wire. At the furlong pole, she was five lengths in front. At the wire, she was 8 1/2 lengths ahead, geared down by Prat.
Mother Mother held second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Northern California shipper Tomlin.
Off at 2-5 with more than $175,000 wagered on her to show, Bellafina finished the distance in 1:22 but didn't get out of the gate great and was between horses in the chute before she worked out a pressing trip for herself in the backstretch.
"She wasn't super quick into stride," Callaghan said. "Flavien didn't rush her and just let her get comfortable. She pretty much took him to the front. Halfway through, I thought we were doing pretty good."
After Mother Mother ran the opening quarter in :22.67, Bellafina put her head in front through a half in :45 and dominated from there.
"She ... relaxed and dropped the bit around the turn, and then she took off," Prat said. "The (grade 1) Breeders' Cup (Juvenile Fillies) was just a bad day. She had trained well for Simon coming into this, and I expected her to run well, and she did."
Bellafina came into the Breeders' Cup off three straight graded stakes wins in the Sorrento Stakes (G2), Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), and Chandelier Stakes (G1) but didn't run her best in the Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs in November and finished fourth, 9 1/4 lengths behind runaway winner Jaywalk.
"I'm here to get to a Breeders' Cup race. I keep telling Simon that," Shah said. "We went in so confident going into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but it just wasn't meant to be. It was not her day. Obviously, she needed to come back and show us what she did today—to validate that she's among the best fillies in the country."
Callaghan said after the race he didn't have a set-in-stone plan to run Bellafina in the Santa Ynez, but the way she was training at Santa Anita forced his hand.
"After the Breeders' Cup, Kaleem said to just run her when she's ready," Callaghan said. "I called him a couple weeks ago and told him, 'We have to run her.'"
Bred in Kentucky by JSM Equine, out of the Malibu Moon mare Akron Moon, Bellafina has $708,000 in earnings from her six starts. She was an $800,000 purchase by Shah out of Fasig-Tipton's The Gulfstream Sale in 2018.
As for what's next, Callaghan said Bellafina could get in another start before the April 6 Santa Anita Oaks (G1). The next Kentucky Oaks (G1) prep race at Santa Anita is the Feb. 9 Las Virgenes Stakes (G2) at a mile.
"We've loosely talked about two races before the Santa Anita Oaks, and we'll see how it comes out," Callaghan said. "We're in a good position now and have the first race of the year under our belt. Kaleem is ultra patient, and we'll just let the filly tell us the best plan."