Del Mar 2024: Anisette, 2 Bafferts lead Saturday stakes

Three-time Grade 1 winner Anisette and a pair of expensive 2-year-olds trained by Bob Baffert will be the main attractions in two graded stakes with small fields Saturday at Del Mar.

Anisette is the likely favorite in the 72nd Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2), a 1 1/16-mile turf race for six fillies and mares. Nooni and Casalu will represent Baffert in the 56th Sorrento Stakes (G3), a six-furlong dash on the main track for five 2-year-old fillies.

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Class drop for Anisette

Wins in the American Oaks (G1) and Gamely (G1), both at Santa Anita, were separated by five months. Now Anisette, a Great Britan-bred, 4-year-old filly by Awtaad, comes back from a 2 1/2-month spell in search of her third consecutive triumph. She makes a class drop to face a field that includes three mares trained by Phil D’Amato.

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trained by Leonard Powell, Anisette is 2-for-2 at Del Mar, where she won last year’s San Clemente (G2) and Del Mar Oaks (G1). She will carry the top weight of 126 pounds, including her regular jockey Umberto Rispoli.

D’Amato entered a trio of 5-year-olds, multiple graded-stakes winner Bellabell, Grade 3 victor Uncorked and three-time stakes winner Lucky Girl.

Fuente Ovejuna, a 5-year-old who won a $100,000 stakes last month at Hoosier Indianapolis, will race for Brendan Walsh. Ever Smart, a Neil Drysdale-trained 7-year-old who has no stakes wins on her 25: 3-7-3 résumé, also is in the field.

The Yellow Ribbon Handicap is the eighth race Saturday with a post time shortly after 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Baffert has Nooni, Casalu in Sorrento

Nooni and Casalu, who raced to one-sided triumphs in their debut races for Baffert, will attract plenty of betting interest in the Sorrento.

Bought for $1.8 million by Zedan Racing Stables, Nooni was a 9 1/2-length victor when she sprinted five furlongs June 13 at Santa Anita. The daughter of Win Win Win earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form, the best in Saturday’s field. Juan Hernández will ride from post 1.

Casalu, a $775,000 Caracaro filly, won by 5 1/2 lengths when she raced for the first time July 21 at Del Mar. Owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, she will break from post 2 with Kazushi Kimura.

Prairie Gold Juvenile winner White Sands, who is 2-for-2 with combined winning margins of 23 1/4 lengths, drew post 5 with Joe Bravo riding for trainer Wesley Ward.

Debutante Stakes winner Vodka With a Twist and first-out victor Night Beacon also are in the field for the Sorrento, Saturday’s fifth race that is scheduled for just after 7 p.m. EDT.