Del Mar 2024: At 3-10, Anisette delivers in Yellow Ribbon

Anisette, the 3-10 favorite in a field of six fillies and mares, raced to an impressive, 1 1/4-length triumph Saturday at Del Mar in the 72nd running of the Grade 2, $200,500 Yellow Ribbon Handicap.

Owned by Aron Wellman’s Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, the classy, 4-year-old daughter of Ireland stallion Awtaad waited for room on the turn for home in the 1 1/16-mile turf test. When it came, she accelerated nicely under regular rider Umberto Rispoli and cleared her foes.

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“I knew Bellabel up ahead of me is the kind that wants to lug out, so I knew there’d be a spot for me coming home,” Rispoli said. “I also knew I was on the best filly. That makes a difference. I was giving (6-8) pounds away, so you have to be aware of that. But I won today even easier than it looked. She was the best.”

There was a rare dead heat for second in the race between Uncorked and Fuente Ovejuna, both finishing exactly even behind the winner.

Anisette ran the distance in 1:40.94 after early fractions of 22.98, 46.13, 1:10.71 and 1:34.94.

“They went the second quarter in 23, and they didn’t back up, but I felt she was in a good spot,” said winning trainer Leonard Powell, a native of France. “When they made the turn, Umberto had to choose outside or inside, and remember, she had to give six, eight, 10 pounds to the field, so weight did matter. But once she leveled off, she really went on, and at the sixteenth pole, I knew she would get there.”

Anisette earned a first prize of $120,000. With a record of 11: 7-3-0, her earnings boosted her total purses to $906,871.

Six of Anisette’s seven scores have come on turf. She has three Grade 1 and two Grade 2 tallies on the green and is 3-for-3 on Del Mar’s turf course.