with files from Santa Anita media
Lightly raced and cast in her first Grade I assignment, Hard Not to Love rallied from well off the pace to register a 2 ¼ length win over odds-on favorite Bellafina in Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita. Ridden by Mike Smith and trained by John Shirreffs, Hard Not to Love got seven furlongs in 1:22.17, good for a 102 Beyer Speed Figure, while providing Smith with his 216th career Grade I win, tying him with retired Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.
Last with three furlongs to run, Hard Not to Love made an eye catching run around the far turn and collared Bellafina, who had fought off a serious challenge from Mother Mother, inside the sixteenth pole to win going away as Smith emulated Bailey’s horizontal “Cigar” fist pump at the wire.