Unique Bella retired after injured in workout, owner announces

By Jonathan Lintner
Photo: Eclipse Sportswire

Champion, multiple Grade 1 winner and fan favorite filly Unique Bella has retired after suffering an injury in her Saturday morning workout, her Chilean-based owner, Don Alberto Stable, announced on Twitter.

According to the social media post, Unique Bella fractured a sesamoid while drilling five furlongs in 1:01.00 in what was her second work toward a likely start in Santa Anita Park's Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer told TVG that Unique Bella was "off a little bit" after her breeze, prompting an X-ray of her ankle. It revealed "a little chip," but Hollendorfer said "it doesn't seem to be bothering her now" and won't likely require any surgery before the horse is bred.

A 4-year-old daughter of Tapit, the flashy gray won nine of her 12 starts, including her last on July 29 despite losing a shoe the first time across the wire in Del Mar's Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch. In all, she earned more than $1.2 million despite also missing lucrative races, including the Kentucky Oaks, due to injury at age 3.

Unique Bella won her championship last year as a sprinter but was being pointed to the Breeders' Cup Distaff to cap this season. She is expected to recover from the injury at the Don Alberto Corp's farm in Lexington, Ky.

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