Unique Bella Leaves an Impression in 2018

Despite a season cut short by injury, Unique Bella left a lasting impression in 2018.

Don Alberto Stable's big gray daughter of Tapit  was retired Aug. 18 when a sesamoid chip was discovered in her ankle, but memories of her two grade 1 wins, a grade 2 victory, and a runner-up performance in grade 1 company stuck with voters through the end of the year. Her Eclipse Award as champion older dirt female joins the hardware she was given for 2017, when she was named champion female sprinter. 

Only 2 1/4 lengths kept Unique Bella's 2018 campaign, brief as it was, from perfection. After a nine-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Maria Stakes (G2) Feb. 10 at Santa Anita Park, her season debut for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, the 4-year-old traveled to Oaklawn Park for her lone start outside of California. There, in the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 13, she missed the break, rushed to the front, and was passed late by Unbridled Mo.

Hollendorfer lost no confidence in his charge, and Unique Bella rewarded that faith when she returned to her spectacular ways June 2 in the Beholder Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. First she dueled with fellow grade 1 winner Paradise Woods, then she gamely turned back the late run of La Force en route to a 2 1/4-length victory. 

The race that capped her career would, in retrospect, go down as a fitting farewell performance. With longtime partner Mike Smith in the irons, Unique Bella took to the front in the July 29 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) with that wicked cruising speed on full display. Smith sat motionless on the silver bullet for much of the 1 1/16-mile race, then dropped his hands just slightly around the turn for home, and his mount quickened away. Although La Force made another rally, Unique Bella held sway by a half-length under a moderate hand ride, the margin only narrow thanks to Smith's efforts to conserve her energy.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Brushwood Stable out of the grade 1-winning Unbridled's Song mare Unrivaled Belle, Unique Bella was a $400,000 purchase by Don Alberto from Eaton Sales' consignment to the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Now she lives at the former Vinery Stud in Lexington, acquired by Don Alberto in late 2015.

"I think it's a remarkable achievement to have won (grade 1 races) over (seven furlongs in 2017), a mile, and a mile and sixteenth," Don Alberto's Carlos Heller said in a statement when Unique Bella was retired. "Unique Bella has a very special place in our hearts and has brought so much joy to myself; my mother, Liliana; and the whole Don Alberto family. She blessed us with our first grade 1 win in the U.S., and we will be forever grateful for her and her time on the track."