Breeders’ Cup winner Unrivaled Belle suffered a career-ending injury in New York on Saturday.

Unrivaled Belle (5m Unbridled’s Song – Queenie Belle by Bertrando) reared backwards and broke her withers while waiting to be saddled for the G1 Ogden Phipps Handicap.

“If she was a gelding, you would give her six months off and it would be fine,” trainer Bill Mott explained.  “It’s not an uncommon injury but this year’s going to be over by the time she heals.”

Unrivaled Belle won 6 of her 14 starts and $1.85 million for owner-breeders Gary Seidler and Peter Vegso.  

Last year, she defeated Rachel Alexandra in the G2 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs and returned to the Twin Spires for G1 glory in the Ladies’ Classic Breeders’ Cup over Blind Luck.

“She was a very talented racehorse, she proved that in the Breeders’ Cup,” Mott added. “It would have taken a champion to beat her that day.”

Unrivaled Belle is a daughter of Unbridled’s Song who stands for a $100,000 fee at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky.  He shuttled to Arrowfield in the 1990s and left an amazing 78% winning strike-rate after three southern seasons.  

Her dam Queenie Belle was a G2 winner at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita and she is a half-sister to G3 Doncaster Cup winner Canon Can (Green Dancer).