DEL MAR – One of the darlings of Del Mar’s 2023 summer meeting will make her first seaside appearance of 2024 Saturday in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes.
Anisette will be seeking her third straight win and sixth in eight races in the 1 1/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares. She looks to be the odds-on favorite in a field of six veterans.
But trainer Leonard Powell is sending Anisette out for the first time following a 2 ½-month “freshening up” break following back-to-back Grade 1 wins in the Gamely (May 27) and American Oaks (Dec. 26) at Santa Anita.
“We haven’t over-raced her,” Powell said of Anisette, a 4-year-old bred in Great Britain. “We didn’t go to every dance. We kind of choose our spots.”
Anisette won the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes on Opening Day of Del Mar’s 2023 summer meeting then returned to win the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks last Aug. 23. Umberto Rispoli will be aboard Anisette for a seventh straight – a run that began with the 2023 San Clemente.
“I think the main thing is we gave her a break after the American Oaks,” said Powell. “She’s very nice … straight-forward and this year a bit more matured. She’s gotten a bit stronger but is still a very pleasant filly.”
The field for the $200,000 race includes three Phil D’Amato trained entrants – including graded stakes winners Uncorked (Antonio Fresu) and Bellabel (Kazushi Kimura), who won the San Clemente in 2022.
Shifting Sands
Wesley Ward has a long-range decision to make Saturday morning.
The trainer shipped White Sands in from the Midwest and entered the daughter of Into Mischief into both of the weekend’s two, Grade 3, six-furlong sprints for 2-year-olds – Saturday’s Sorrento for fillies and Sunday’s Best Pal, where she would be the only filly running against the boys.
If she goes Saturday, White Sands would be up against the powerful Bob Baffert duo of Nooni and Casalu. If she goes in the Best Pal, the sophomores to beat are Baffert’s Getaway Car and another shipper Mischief River.
Ward has until an hour before the Sorrento to decide. Interestingly, Joe Bravo is scheduled to fly in and ride White Sands on Saturday. Kimura is listed as the rider Sunday, White Sands is 2-0 with wins by 9 ½ lengths at Belterra Park in Cincinnati in May and 13 ¾ lengths at Prairie Meadows in Iowa on July 6.
Heisman pose
Jockey Juan Hernandez rallied 6-to-5 favorite R. Heisman in the stretch Friday to catch Case Hit four strides before the finish to win the $100,000 Graduation Stakes – a 5 ½-furlong sprint for 2-year-old Cal-breds.
The first two finishers were both trained by Peter Miller.
Case Hit (Reylu Gutierrez) led out of the gate and was two lengths ahead of R Heisman deep into the stretch before finishing three-quarters of a length behind the son of Far From Over. I’m a Bad Boy was right behind Case Hit most of the race before also being passed by R Heisman $4.60) at the top of the stretch.
“I thought Case Hit might have had it,” said Miller. “But R Heisman never gave up. They’re both really talented Cal-breds. I’m just very thankful to Gary Barber (owner of the two leaders) for giving me the opportunity to train them. They fired and ran very well.”
“He really broke nice,” Hernandez said of R Heisman. “we are trying to settle him down. He is aggressive out of the gate. On paper, he has a lot of speed, so I didn’t want him to go head-to-head with the pacesetters. But he relaxed pretty well.
“I let the leaders go and sat right behind them, saving ground along the rail. I waited for the horse ahead of me to advance a little bit. Then I swung around on the outside and R Heisman did the rest.”
Notable
• Veronica’s Gem, a 3-year-old daughter of Vronsky, is OK and jockey Abel Cedillo returned after missing one race Friday after a scary incident in the first race. In her second career start, Veronica’s Gem was leading along the rail early in the stretch on the dirt when she appeared to step on the apron, hit the rail and go down, tossing Cedillo. Briefly trapped under the rail, Veronica’s Gem regained her footing and walked into the equine ambulance.
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