DEL MAR — The Grade II Yellow Ribbon Stakes has been a Del Mar fixture for 74 years, dating to when it was known as the Palomar Handicap.
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But Saturday’s edition of the 1-1/16-mile turf run for older fillies and mares will have a distinctive East Coast flavor. Five of the seven starters have come to Del Mar from tracks outside California seeking a share of the $200,000 purse.
The Yellow Ribbon and Grade III Best Pal, a prep for the Del Mar Futurity, are the two graded stakes on Saturday’s 10-race card.
Leading the Yellow Ribbon field will be Whiskey Decision, who five weeks ago was transferred from Chad Brown’s operation at Saratoga to the Southern California stable led by trainer Mike McCarthy.
The daughter of Into Mischief earlier this year ran second in a pair of graded stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and Monmouth Park.
“Her owners wanted to capitalize on her pedigree and pad her resume with a stakes out here,” McCarthy said of Whiskey Decision’s move west. “She has a touch of class about her.”
Umberto Rispoli will be aboard Whiskey Decision.
One of the horses shipping in has run at Del Mar before. Trainer Graham Motion’s 4-year-old Warming (Juan Hernandez) finished seventh among eight starters last fall in the Grade II Bayakoa Stakes on Breeders’ Cup weekend in her first race on the dirt.
“She was here and there really wasn’t a race for her on the grass,” said Motion’s assistant, Alice Clapham. “She had breezed a couple of times on the dirt and they always wanted to give her one try on the dirt to see how she’d do. We learned she’s not a dirt horse. She’s a tough filly. Her last five races have all been at different tracks.”
The 4-year-old daughter of Global Campaign has finished in the money in all four of her starts since returning to grass, winning the Grade III Gallorette at Laurel Park on the Preakness undercard.
Sweet Rebecca, a 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah, has won six of her 10 starts and is No. 2 on the morning-line list behind Whiskey Decision. Antonio Fresu will be up.
Seven juveniles will be going in the 6-furlong Best Pal earlier Saturday, including the Bob Baffert-trained Hughes, an Into Mischief Colt who won his racing debut at Los Alamitos by six lengths. But Hughes (Hernandez) is only the third pick behind Kennyten (Ricardo Gonzalez, 9-5) and He Is No Lie (Emisael Jaramillo, 2-1).
A son of Drain the Clock, Kennyten won his debut by 7½ lengths at Santa Anita in June. He Is No Lie has been prepared by Del Mar training leader Doug O’Neill and lost by a head in the $200,000 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs on June 28 after winning his May 15 debut at Santa Anita by eight lengths.
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“The Bashford was scary fast,” O’Neill aide Leandro Mora said. “We didn’t expect that. So, after that race we got pretty excited. He’s training well and has really adapted to Del Mar.”
The Best Pal is the first of five graded stakes for juveniles this summer, culminating with the Futurity.
NET PAR GRADUATES
Juan Hernandez and Net Par held off King Kameha by a nose at the wire on Friday to win the $100,000 Graduation Stakes – a 5½-furlong sprint for Cal-bred horses. Early Encore, the 2-5 favorite, was third among the seven finishers.
Net Par took the lead from 25-1 longshot Fumano’s Fire coming off the turn. King Kameha (Tiago Pereira) moved past Early Encore in the middle of the stretch but could not quite overtake Net Par. Fumano’s Fire (Cristobal Herrera) held onto fourth.
“We had a good trip,” Hernandez said. “Coming through the lane, he was running on the wrong lead. When King Kameha came up outside him, he dug in and switched back to the other lead. He ran hard and finished up well.”
“Net Par is still a little green,” Garcia said. “Juan was telling me he was stubborn in the gate and it took him a little bit to switch leads and he was waiting on the horses. But he dug in and got it done. We thought Early Encore was tough and had some speed and we knew Fumano’s Fire was probably wanting to go out there and take his chance.”
NOTABLE
The stunning, come-from-behind victory of 55-1 longshot Grandisimo in the final race resulted in no winning Pick Six tickets. For the second time this meeting, there is a two-day carryover – this time a total of $148,537.
Forged Steel is no longer probable for the Pacific Classic. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has decided to run the Hollywood Gold Cup winner in Saturday’s Grade I Whitney Stakes at Saratoga rather than the Aug. 22 marquee race of Del Mar’s summer meeting.
A cloudburst hit Del Mar just after 8 a.m. on Friday. Fifteen minutes of heavy rain muddied the frontstretch, but nary a drop fell on the backstretch.
DEL MAR LEADERS
Through Sunday
Jockeys / Wins
Juan Hernandez / 13
Joel Rosario / 11
Antonio Fresu / 10
Umberto Rispoli / 9
Emisael Jaramillo / 9
Kazushi Kimura / 8
Hector Berrios / 6
Armando Ayuso / 6
Tyler Baze / 5
Kyle Frey / 4
Trainers / Wins
Doug O’Neill / 12
John Sadler / 7
Mark Glatt / 6
Phil D’Amato / 6
Jeff Mullins / 5
Michael McCarthy / 5
Craig Lewis / 4
George Papaprodromou / 4
(Five tied) / 3
UPCOMING STAKES
DEL MAR
Friday
• $100,000 Graduation Stakes, California-bred 2-year-olds, 5½ furlongs
Saturday
• $200,000, Grade II Yellow Ribbon Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1-1/16 miles on turf
• $150,000, Grade III Best Pal Stakes, 2-year-olds, 6 furlongs
Sunday
• $150,000, Grade III Sorrento Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs
LOS ALAMITOS
Saturday
• $50,000 California Juvenile Challenge, quarter-horse 2-year-olds, 350 yards
Sunday
• $25,000 Florentine Handicap, quarter-horse fillies and mares, 3 and up, 350 yards
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