With Prat away, Leparoux rides Vasilika in Del Mar's Yellow Ribbon
French-born jockeys Flavien Prat and Julien Leparoux will be at opposite ends of the country from their home bases on Saturday aboard two of the best female runners in America.
Prat will be at Saratoga to ride Bellafina in the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes on Saturday while Leparoux will visit Del Mar for the assignment on Vasilika in the Grade 2, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap.
Prat has ridden Vasilika in her last 13 starts, of which 12 have been wins. But a conflict of races for Vasilika and Bellafina, a Prat mount for all of her nine starts, created a problem for Prat and his agent, Derek Lawson.
The solution: a deal with Leparoux and his agent, Steve Bass, amenable to the Vasilika and Bellafina connections, that allows Prat to keep his commitment to 3-year-old Del Mar Debutante and Santa Anita Oaks winner Bellafina while Leparoux gets a one-time opportunity on the 5-year-old Vasilika.
Eight rivals were entered to take on Vasilika in the 1 1/16-mile turf race as the former $40,000 claimer attempts to stay unbeaten for the year in her fifth 2019 start.
The full list of entrants in post position order (with jockeys in parentheses) are: Beau Recall (Drayden Van Dyke), Youngest Daughter (Brice Blanc), Storm The Hill (Rafael Bejarano), Vasilika (Julien Leparoux), Lemoona (Mario Gutierrez), Valedictorian (C. J. Hernandez), Causeforcommotion (Norberto Arroyo, Jr.), Toinette (Ruben Fuentes) and Elysea’s World.
Vasilika's return coincides with that of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who had his Del Mar ban lifted by a temporary injunction last week in San Diego Superior court. Hollendorfer can now enter runners in his name along with stabling and training at Del Mar.
Dan Ward, his top assistant, had opened the summer meet conditioning Hollendorfer's former runners.
Upon his return Sunday, when Hollendorfer watched Vasilika breeze six furlongs on turf in 1:14.20, he said, “It’s not business as usual. I have 17 horses where last year I had 50."
The Yellow Ribbon goes as the eighth of 10 races Saturday.