Even top weight couldn’t slow down 3-10 favorite Anisette in Saturday’s $200,500 Yellow Ribbon H. (G2) at Del Mar. Confidently handled by regular rider Umberto Rispoli, the class of the field produced her trademark late kick to remain unbeaten on the Jimmy Durante turf course.
Anisette’s affinity for Del Mar takes on greater resonance this year, with the seaside track hosting the Breeders’ Cup. Her previous wins over the course came in last summer’s San Clemente (G2) and Del Mar Oaks (G1), and the Yellow Ribbon extended her local mark to 3-for-3.
The Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners color-bearer, who has since captured the Dec. 26 American Oaks (G1) and May 27 Gamely (G1) at Santa Anita, was assigned 126 pounds in the Yellow Ribbon. That’s the most weight carried by a winner of this race since Kilijaro lugged 129 pounds to victory in 1981, when it was known as the Palomar H. In the interim, Going Global toted 125 pounds successfully in 2022.
Anisette was content to drop back in fifth as a fast pace developed. Ever Smart, the 25-1 longest shot on the board, scampered clear through an opening quarter in :22.91. Her margin doubled to four lengths passing the half in :46.13, but it was only a matter of time until she would come back to the field. Indeed, Ever Smart’s advantage had virtually evaporated at the six-furlong mark in 1:10.71.
Although the stalking Bellabel was the first to pounce on the fading pacesetter, she was soon overtaken by Uncorked, her stablemate from the Phil D’Amato barn. Uncorked tried to make the most of her rail-skimming move into the lane, hoping that she could beat Anisette to the punch.
By that point, Rispoli had cleverly maneuvered Anisette right behind the D’Amato duo, in anticipation of plowing through a seam. The bigger risk would have been going wide, making Anisette cover more ground under her big weight.
Anisette got her gap between Uncorked and Bellabel, and the British import duly came through to prevail by a cozy 1 1/4 lengths. She clocked 1 1/16 miles on the firm turf in 1:40.94.
Fuente Ovejuna got up to join Uncorked on the line and force a dead-heat for the runner-up spot. Another neck away in fourth came Lucky Girl. Bellabel wound up fifth, while Ever Smart was eased but walked off the course.
Rispoli explained his decision-making aboard Anisette.
“I knew Bellabel up ahead of me is the kind that wants to lug out,” Rispoli said. “So I knew there’d be a spot for me coming home. I also knew I was on the best filly; that makes a difference. I was giving pounds away, so you have to be aware of that. But I won today even easier than it looked. She was the best.”
Anisette’s trainer, Leonard Powell, “felt she was in a good spot” as the race unfolded.
“When they made the turn, Umberto had to choose outside or inside and remember, she had to give six, eight pounds to the field, so weight did matter,” Powell said. “But once she leveled off, she really went on, and at the sixteenth pole, I knew she would get there.”
Anisette advanced her record to 11-7-3-0, $906,866. Since finishing fourth on debut at Kempton in her homeland, the dark bay has never been out of the exacta. She placed second next time at the same venue, then broke through at Wolverhampton for original trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy. Her British experience was entirely on all-weather tracks.
After she was snapped up by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and moved to California, Anisette emerged as an exceptional turf talent. She’s lost only twice in eight starts stateside. Both reverses came at Santa Anita last fall, when she deferred to older star Didia in the Rodeo Drive (G2), and dropped too far behind free-wheeling frontrunner Ruby Nell in the Autumn Miss (G3).
Anisette was part of a banner Saturday for her sire, Awtaad, whose Group 1-winning son Anmaat scored in his comeback in the Rose of Lancaster (G3) at Haydock. Bred and initially raced by the Morera Partnership, Anisette is out of Tutti Frutti, a Teofilo half-sister to Group 1 victress Sultanina.
