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Bodhicitta, Prat Nose Out Tonahutu In Yellow Ribbon At Del Mar

Calvin Nguyen's Bodhicitta, a filly on the rise, came running late to get up by a whisker and take honors in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar Saturday afternoon.

The British-bred daughter of Showcasing packed 120 pounds and got a picture-perfect ride from Flavien Prat and caught DRJ Racing, Kenney or Strauss' Tonahutu just in the shadow of the wire. Finishing third was Agave Racing Stable's Harmless.

Race favorite Beau Recall put in only a mild late bid and finished fifth beaten just under two lengths in the seven-horse lineup.

The tally was the eighth stakes score in just 12 racing days for rider Prat, who now has 21 firsts at the session, second best among all riders to Umberto Rispoli, who won four races on the afternoon to forge to the top with 22 scores.

“I had a good post (#2) today, so I was able to get right on the fence and save ground,” said Prat. “I knew they were going slow, but my filly has a good turn of foot and we got it done.”

The 4-year-old Bodhicitta paid $11.20, $5.40 and $4.00 across the board and earned a winner's share of $90,000 from the Yellow Ribbon purse of $151,000. She now has amassed $265,808 in winnings with her fourth stateside score and initial stakes victory.

This was the 68th edition of the Yellow Ribbon for fillies and mares, aged 3 and up, and the winner covered the mile and one-sixteenth distance on the Del Mar turf course in 1:42.83.

“The race went about like I thought it would, I didn't see much speed in the race,” said Baltas. “She has more tactical speed than some of the horses, like Beau Recall and others who come from the back. He (Flavien Prat) saved a lot of ground and we needed all of it. When he won with her awhile back, he said 'This is my next (multiple-stakes winner) Vasilika'. It means a lot because he's ridden a lot of good horses. We may go here in the Mabee ($150,000, Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes, September 5).”

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Weston’s Best Pal Score Gives Trainer Hanson, Sire Hit It A Bomb First Graded Stakes Victories

Chris Drakos and Ryan Hanson's Weston got up in the final stride to triumph in the 50th running of the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif., on Saturday.

The gelding became the first stakes winner for the freshman sire Hit It a Bomb, just getting the best of 32-1 longshot Girther, owned by Altamira Racing Stable. Finishing third via disqualification of the original third-place finisher Ambivalent

Chris Drakos and Ryan Hanson's Weston got up in the final stride to triumph in the 50th running of the Grade II Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar Saturday.

The gelded son of the young stallion Hit It a Bomb just got the best of 32-1 longshot Girther, owned by Altamira Racing Stable. Sonic Breeze was awarded third when the original third-place finisher, Ambivalent, was disqualified for interference and placed fourth.

The 1-2 race favorite, Breeze Easy's Roderick, who had shipping in from New York and was coming off an impressive victory there, failed to fire in the lane and finished last of the seven runners.

“Boy, I had to work hard for that one,” said Van Dyke. “But I'm glad I did. I was happy to win it for (trainer) Ryan Hanson. He's such a kind man and a good horse trainer. And this horse showed some class, too. Ryan told me he never got to paddock him (prior to the race), but he was just standing in there like an old pro. I knew I got there in the end and I'm real glad I did.”

Weston is trained by co-owner Hanson and the bay's score was the first graded stakes win in Thoroughbred racing for the conditioner, as well as his first stakes victory at Del Mar.

“He broke sharp, just like we wanted him to, but then it looked like he just sat there for a minute,” said Hanson. “I got a little nervous when he got shuffled back, but then he got back up there and fought on. The time was not very impressive, but that doesn't matter. I didn't think we were going to win it. I thought we'd be second to the Peter Miller horse, who had had a trip over the track. But I'm just really happy. We'll see how he looks tomorrow and let him tell us what to do (regarding the $250,000, Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on closing day, September 7). ”

Weston paid $12.20, $6.80 and $4.60 across the board and picked up a check for $90,000 from the $151,000 purse.

Final time for the six furlongs was 1:12.72.

The winner was a $7,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September Sale in 2019. He captured his only previous start when he flashed speed and tallied by a length and a quarter in a four and a half furlong straight maiden race at Santa Anita on June 21.

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‘She Knows Her Job’: Ramona Hill Beats Males In Hambletonian

The sensational filly Ramona Hill took a well-deserved gulp from the Hambletonian trophy after beating the boys on Saturday in the $1 million trotting classic at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J.

It was the latest chapter in the developing saga of harness racing's newest superstar.

The victory, the 15th by a filly in the race's illustrious history, was hardly a surprise. She was the 2-5 favorite following the previous week's jaw-dropping win from an impossible spot, kicking home with a :25.4 final quarter in the Hambletonian eliminations.

She was just as good in the final. Andy McCarthy turned Ramona Hill loose down the backside and she easily surged past Threefiftytwo to take command for good.

“When I came out early there, I sensed I could find the front,” McCarthy said. “I went for it, and she knows her job.”

As Ramona Hill made the lead, main rivals Ready For Moni — the other elimination winner — and Back Of The Neck took up the chase.

Through the lane, Ramona Hill remained solidly in command, beating Ready For Moni by a length with Back Of The Neck third.

“She was starting to work a little bit towards the wire, but she finished it off,” McCarthy said.

The time for the mile only confirmed what observers already knew: Ramona Hill is the real deal. The 1:50.1 clocking equaled the stakes mark set by her sire Muscle Hill in 2009.

It was a muted winner's circle celebration with access limited and everyone masked to ward off the coronavirus.

John Campbell, president of the Hambletonian Society, summed up the day and the performance eloquently.

“What a great performance by a tremendous filly,” Campbell said. “Throughout history, society has dealt with crises and troubles, but great horses and great horse racing have found a way to bring people together to forget about what's going on in their everyday lives. I think that's what's happened here today.”

It was the first Hambletonian victory for McCarthy and trainer Tony Alagna, who took a very patient approach with his talented filly. The race was only her fourth of the year and 11th of her career.

“People talked earlier about how COVID affected this filly's schedule,” Alagna said. “Honestly, this was our schedule from the beginning, with or without COVID. She's very much like a Thoroughbred. She doesn't need the starts to be at her best.”

Of course, the Hambletonian Oaks for fillies earlier in the day was a possible target. But after Ramona Hill cruised to a convincing win in the Del Miller on July 18, Alagna set his sights on the bigger goal.

“We always had it (the Hambletonian) in the back of our minds, but nobody wanted to be the first one to say it,” Alagna said. “After the Del Miller, it became a reality.”

It had already been a great afternoon for McCarthy with four victories. Number five, the Hambletonian, will be the one he'll always remember.

“It was a very good start to the day and I was trying to keep my cool, and I was trying to let it sink in too much because I still had a lot of work to do,” McCarthy said.

The driver and the filly completed the mission in style.

“The adrenalin you get from winning a race like this, words can't explain it,” the Australian reinsman said. “It's an amazing event and a privilege to be involved.”

With the victory, Ramona Hill improved her record to 9-0-2 in 11 starts for Bradley Grant, Crawford Farms Racing, Robert LeBlanc and In The Gym Partners. The 2019 Breeders Crown and Dan Patch Award winner is the second filly to capture the Hambletonian in the last three renewals, joining Atlanta (2018).

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Gamine Rolls To Daylight Victory In Test; 1:20.83 For Seven Panels Equals Stakes Record

Showing the same brilliance she demonstrated last out in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes that she won by 18 3/4 lengths, Michael Lund Petersen's Gamine romped to another daylight victory under John Velazquez in Saturday's Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief fought off Grade 2 winner Venetian Harbor through fractions of :22.70, :45.14 and 1:08.61 en route to a final clocking of 1:20.83 for seven furlongs on a fast track, equaling Lady Tak's stakes record in 2003 and falling two-fifths of a second short of the 1:20.40 Saratoga track record set in 1978 by Darby Creek Road.

Venetian Harbor held second, beaten seven lengths, with stakes winner Up in Smoke third, Grade 1 winner Spinaway winner Perfect Alibi fourth and Mrs. Danvers last in the field of five 3-year-olds fillies.

Venetian Harbor was the 1-5 favorite off her victory in the Acorn.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Gamine was picked out of the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni on behalf of Petersen, a Baltimore-area resident. She won her debut at Santa Anita by 6 1/4 lengths on March 7, then was first across the wire by a neck in an Oaklawn allowance race May 2. She was subsequently disqualified from that win after a post-race test detected lidocaine, a disqualification that has been appealed to the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Baffert then shipped Gamine to New York twice from his southern California stable where she rolled to her two Grade 1 victories.

Gamine, out of the Kafwain mare, Peggy Jane, was bred in Kentucky by Grace Thoroughbred Holdings.

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