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Del Mar: Juveniles Clash In Best Pal; Quality Runs Deep In Yellow Ribbon Field

A stakes doubleheader – featuring the Grade 2, $200,000 Best Pal Stakes and the Grade 2, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap – will provide some extra spice to an enticing Saturday racing card at Del Mar that kicks off at 2 p.m. in Del Mar, Calif.

Seven juveniles will lock horns in this 51st edition of the Best Pal over six furlong that goes as the ninth race on an 11-race program. Then 10 older fillies and mares will go 1 1/16 miles on the lawn in the 69th running of the Yellow Ribbon, which goes as race 10.

The likely favorite in the juvenile race is the eastern shipper Pappacap, a Gun Runner colt owned by Rustlewood Farm and trained by newly minted Hall of Famer Mark Casse. The bay homebred was a smart winner of his lone start on May 14 at Gulfstream Park in Florida and has been in steady training since then. Newcomer Joe Bravo gets the call.

Another promising runner in the lineup is Gary Barber's Bet On Mookie, a son of the Lion Heart stallion Uncaptured who has been to the post twice and shows a win and a second for his efforts. His tally came at Santa Anita on June 11 when he simply outran his field in a straight maiden affair to score by five and a quarter lengths. Trainer Peter Miller has given the assignment of Bet On Mookie to Abel Cedillo.

In the Yellow Ribbon the competition runs deep. Among the distaffers who rate more than a casual look in the turfer are Slam Dunk Racing Stable and Currency's Maxim Rate, LNJ Foxwoods' Dogtag, Agave Racing Stable and Medallion Racing's Charmaine's Mia. Also in the mix is last year's Yellow Ribbon winner – Calvin Nguyen's Bodhicitta.

In fact, all 10 runners in the lineup are stakes winners.

Here are the fields for the two stakes from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Best Pal — Bet On Mookie (5/2); Chapman or Tsumimoto's Our Empire (Tyler Baze, 20-1); Pappacap (8/5); Lovingier, Fasihuddin or Navarro's Finneus (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1); Lovingier, Beckerle or Carrillo's Thirsty Always (apprentice Cesar Ortega, 7/2); Peter Redekop's Aquitania Arrival (Juan Hernandez, 4-1), and Opas or Sinatra's Olympic Legend (Jose Valdivia, Jr., 10-1).

Yellow Ribbon – Bodhicitta (Trevor McCarthy, 6-1); Little Red Feather Racing or Sterling's Raymundos Secret (Tiago Pereira, 6-1); Charmaine's Mia (Joe Bravo, 4-1); Dogtag (Rispoli, 4-1); El Tata Stables' Brooke (Kyle Frey, 12-1); Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' Keeper Ofthe Stars (Cedillo, 12-1); George and Martha Schwary Racing's Ippodamia's Girl (Geovanni Franco, 12-1); Susan and John Moore's Princess Grace (Kent Desormeaux, 8-1); Maxim Rate (Hernandez, 7/2), and Gary Barber's Laura's Light (Valdivia, Jr., 15-1).

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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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‘Timing’ Is Right For Beau Recall To Repeat In Yellow Ribbon Handicap

Nick Cosato, a former jockey agent who is now head of the Slam Dunk Racing partnership organization, was introduced to the sport at a young age via weekend trips to Santa Anita with his father.

His father was good friends with Eduardo Inda, the right-hand man for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and an integral part of the team that campaigned John Henry to the Hall of Fame as well.

“So I was able to be around John Henry quite a bit,” Cosato said. “I've got pictures with me and John Henry before and after he won the Santa Anita Handicap in 1982. John Henry was my lifelong favorite – until Beau Recall came along. For her to be at that level, in my mind, speaks volumes.”

Beau Recall, a 6-year-old Irish-bred mare, is the defending champion in Saturday's $150,000, Grade II Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares which will be run for the 68th time.

In the 2019 Yellow Ribbon, Beau Recall rallied along the rail to win a by a margin so narrow it took several minutes to verify the photo, then several more for stewards to deny an objection for interference by the rider whose horse had finished last.

“It was a lengthy inquiry for something I didn't think merited being brought up in the first place,” Cosato recalled. “But in the end, the stewards' decision was the one we were hoping for.”

The Yellow Ribbon was one of three victories and three runner-up efforts in a six-race 2019 campaign for Beau Recall that accounted for $605,600 of her `more than $1.1 million in career earnings. The Yellow Ribbon was her second Grade II victory of the year, coming three months after a 10-1 upset in the Distaff Turf Mile, which gave Cosato and partners the thrill and prestige of going to the winner's circle before 150,729 spectators at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.

Cosato doesn't favor one over the other. He savors both.

“Any time you win one of those big races it's just a complete blessing,” Cosato, who grew up in Temple City and now lives in Sierra Madre, said. “Nothing beats winning at home, and I'm a Californian who has been coming to Del Mar since I was a kid.”

Beau Recall has raced twice in 2020. She finished ninth of 14, albeit beaten only 2 ¼ lengths, in the Mint Julep at Churchill Downs on May 30 and second in the Grade I Just a Game Stakes at Belmont Park on June 27.

“Her comeback race (Mint Julep) turned out to be nothing more than a workout,” Cosato said. “She never had room to run, never got to unleash the late kick that makes her so good.”

In the Just a Game, Beau Recall's late charge came up three lengths short against front-running Newspaperofrecord but a half length ahead of Uni, winner of the 2018 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar and an Eclipse Award as the top female turf runner last year.

Beau Recall prevailed over five rivals, among them multiple stakes-winning Vasilika, in the 2019 Yellow Ribbon. There are seven others entered Saturday, among them Jolie Olimpica, winner of two graded turf sprints at Santa Anita this year and Keeper Ofthe Stars, who took the Grade I Gamely in May.

Beau Recall may carry the colors of Slam Dunk – a name Cosato chose because of the many friends/clients he has with NBA or college basketball backgrounds – but a victory Saturday is nowhere near such a high percentage opportunity.

“It's a tough race,” Cosato conceded. “We're trying to get her a Grade I win, but for that at a mile, you'd almost have to run against the boys. Timing-wise, the Yellow Ribbon is right and we're hoping it works out for her again.”

The field from the rail: Summering (Drayden Van Dyke, 12-1); Bodhicitta (Flavien Prat, 6-1); Tonahutu (Victor Espinoza, 15-1); Lady Prancelot (Juan Hernandez, 5-1); Harmless (Ricardo Gonzalez, 15-1); Keeper Ofthe Stars (Abel Cedillo, 7-2); Beau Recall (Umberto Rispoli, 3-1), and Jolie Olimpica (Mike Smith, 5-2).

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Beau Recall Back To Defend Her Title In Del Mar’s Yellow Ribbon Handicap

Slam Dunk Racing or Medallion Racing's Beau Recall, who was up by a whisker to win last year's Yellow Ribbon Handicap, has come back to Del Mar to try to make it two-for-two in the Grade II, $150,000 headliner for fillies and mares that will be run this Saturday.

The now 6-year-old mare by the Irish stallion Sir Prancealot brings a record of seven wins and eight seconds from 27 starts to the mile and one-sixteenth grass test, as well as a bankroll that reads $1,101,512. Trainer Brad Cox has shipped his well-traveled charge in from New York to defend her title and has assigned Umberto Rispoli to ride.

In all, eight runners have been entered for the 68th edition of the Yellow Ribbon, but one of them – Fox Hill Farms' Jolie Olimpica – won't make the fray. Trainer Richard Mandella told racing officials that he'll wait for another day to bring out his stakes winning filly.

In any event, here's the entered lineup for the 68th edition of the Yellow Ribbon from the rail out with riders, weights and morning line odds:

Glen Hill Farm's Summering (Drayden Van Dyke, 118, 12-1); Calvin Nguyen's Bodhicitta (Flavien Prat, 120, 6-1); DRJ Racing, Kenney or Strauss' Tonahutu (Victor Espinoza, 15-1); Iavarone, McClanahan or Arntz, et al's Lady Prancealot (Juan Hernandez, 121, 5-1); Agave Racing Stable's Harmless (Ricky Gonzalez, 118, 15-1); Tommy Town Thoroughbreds' Keeper Of the Stars (Abel Cedillo, 123, 7/2); Beau Recall (123, 3-1), and Jolie Olimpica (Mike Smith, 122, 5/2).

Keeper Ofthe Stars, a gray 4-year-old by Midnight Lute, has won seven of her 16 starts, including a smart score this past May 25 in the Grade I Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita. The Jonathan Wong trainee has won more than half a million dollars and has done well with rider Cedillo, her partner Saturday. They've rung up three stakes victories together, including that Gamely tally.

Lady Prancealot has chased home Keeper Of the Stars in her last two outings, but was a double stakes winner in her two starts before that. The Irish-bred filly runs out of the barn of trainer Richard Baltas and can brag of $565,841 in winnings so far. Like most in this field, she's shown a real affinity for the turf.

Bodhicitta rallied to take second in the aforementioned Gamely behind Keeper Ofthe Stars in her best effort to date. The rising 4-year-old by the British stallion Showcasing also comes out of the Baltas barn. She has put in a series of good works at Del Mar for her go in the distaff feature.

The Yellow Ribbon will be Race 9 on the 11-race Saturday program. Also on the card will be the Grade II, $150,000 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds. First post on the afternoon will be 2 p.m.

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