Anisette victorious in the Yellow Ribbon (G2) Aug. 10 at Del Mar (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Del Mar Stable Notes
DEL MAR, Calif.— Anisette served notice last year when she won the G2 San Clemente on opening weekend at Del Mar. She became the darling of Del Mar when she returned a month later to capture the G1 Del Mar Oaks. She has done little wrong in 2024 and now must be considered the Queen of the Filly and Mare Turf division out west.
She will be back Saturday afternoon when she takes on six rivals in the G2 John C. Mabee, a mile and an eighth test on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course and the final graded stake for older horses at the meet. It will be her second race at Del Mar this summer. She won her third straight race last month when she took down the G2 Yellow Ribbon in typical Anisette style. She sat toward the back of the pack through the first half of the race then steadily gained ground through the turn and when she turned for home displayed her impressive turn of foot that carried her past the others and first to the finish line.
“It was a very good run,” trainer Leonard Powell states. “She had to carry a bit more weight because it was a handicap but she was able to overcome it and showed all the talent that she has.”
Anisette has run 11 times in her career and finished in the money in 10 of those races. Her only blemish coming in her first race, one of three races she ran in Britain to start her career. She arrived stateside early last year and has compiled a 6-2-0 record in eight starts on this side of the pond. All but one was a graded stake.
“Very well,” Powell says of Anisette’s training up to the race. “All is well and I’m expecting a good race from her again.”
She’ll be running less than month after her last race, which is not uncommon for her. She’s done it in the past with success.
“She’s going so good,” Powell notes, “but also because she’s undefeated at Del Mar.”
Which bodes well come Breeders’ Cup time.
“We take each race one at a time,” Leonard says, “but the Breeder’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf is the ultimate goal.”
Powell skipped last year’s Breeders’ Cup with Anisette, choosing instead to run in the G3 Autumn Miss at Santa Anita the next day. She finished second to Ruby Nell. Powell brought her back seven weeks later on opening day at Santa Anita and she scored her second Grade 1 win in the American Oaks. She added another Grade 1 in May when she won the Gamely on Memorial Day.
It’s not very often trainer Phil D’Amato doesn’t bring at least one of the favorites to a graded stakes grass race at Del Mar. Or for that matter, doesn’t bring two or three of the favorites. But in Saturday’s John C. Mabee, he’ll have to settle for third billing behind Anisette and Didia. That’s not to say D’Amato doesn’t come with a chance.
Del Mar’s leading trainer for the past two years has three horses in the Mabee. Uncorked was second to Anisette in the Yellow Ribbon, finishing in a dead-heat with Fuente Ovejuna, who is also in the race.
“At the top of the lane I thought she was going to win,” D’Amato remarked. “Anisette does what she does best so she came rolling late and mowed us down.”
D’Amato also brings Hang the Moon to the dance. The daughter of Uncle Mo finished second to Ag Bullet in the $100,000 Osunitas Stakes at Del Mar on opening weekend. Ag Bullet went on to set a course record at Kentucky Downs last week.
Hang the Moon spent the first year of her racing career in the Michael Stidham barn, racing back east. D’Amato gave her a 10-month break between August of 2023 and June of this year. She rewarded him with a win in a second-level allowance race at Santa Anita and then the runner-up finish in the Osunitas.
“I thought it was a really nice race,” D’Amato says. “Definitely the longer the better for her. The time off has helped her mature. She’s a big strapping filly. Probably needed time to fill into herself and now she’s hitting her stride.”
D’Amato’s third entry is Lucky Girl who finished fourth in the Yellow Ribbon last out.
Trainer Ignacio Correas brings Grade I winner Didia to Del Mar for the Mabee and Brendan Walsh returns with Fuente Ovejuna. Royal Charter is the ‘other’ Powell horse in the race.
The 67th running of the G2 John Mabee, named after the owner of the once-popular Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona and breeder of Best Pal, goes off as the ninth race on the 11-race Saturday card. Probable post time is 5:30 p.m.
Here’s the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Anisette (Umberto Rispoli, 7/5); Hang the Moon (Kazushi Kimura, 20-1); Lucky Girl (Mike Smith, 15-1); Uncorked (Antonio Fresu, 10-1); Royal Charter (Diego Herrera, 20-1); Didia (Hector I. Berrios, 4/5), and Fuente Ovejuna (Juan Hernandez, 20-1).
