Friday’s $279,000 Bed o’ Roses S. (G2) at Belmont Park looked on paper like Bella Sofia‘s race to steal. That she did, but narrowly.
The field of four fillies and mares were bunched together through the opening half-mile, separated by 1 1/2 lengths as Bella Sofia carved out moderate splits of :23.62 and :46.18 under Luis Saez. That left Bella Sofia with plenty in the tank for the stretch, but the four-year-old saw her advantage whittled down to a half-length at the wire as Obligatory made a late, unsuccessful lunge.
“She looks like she got a little tired in the end and didn’t switch leads,” trainer Rudy Rodriguez said. “I know in the back of my mind we ran her back quickly, but she’s just so special.”
Bella Sofia made her season debut in the May 14 Vagrancy H. (G3) at Belmont over 6 1/2 furlongs, a race she won by a nose after dealing with a much stronger pace.
“I was expecting somebody to put the pressure on [Bella Sofia] and nobody did,” said Jose Ortiz, who rode recent Derby City Distaff (G1) winner Obligatory. “Nothing against the other filly, but I think my horse is better. She just beat me because of the circumstances of the race.”
Bella Sofia paid $3.50 and covered seven furlongs in 1:21.36 over a fast track. Glass Ceiling finished 10 1/2 lengths behind Obligatory in third, while outsider Easy to Bless was another 8 3/4 lengths behind in last.
Bella Sofia was one of the leading three-year-old filly sprinters in the country last season when taking the Test (G1) and Gallant Bloom H. (G2), the latter against older mares. She missed out on Eclipse Award honors when finishing five lengths fourth to Ce Ce in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.
Owned in partnership by Michael Imperio, Medallion Racing, Sofia Soares, Vincent Scuderi, and Parkland Thoroughbreds, Bella Sofia has now earned $840,100 from a line of 8-6-1-0.
Bred in Kentucky by Two Tone Farms, Bella Sofia last went through the sales ring for $20,000 as an OBS juvenile. She is by Awesome Patriot and out of the multiple stakes-placed Love Contract, by Consolidator.
