Absence of Thought Process opens up Yellow Ribbon; $148,537 pick six carryover

DEL MAR, Calif. – A filly-mare turf stakes that seemed a formality for the local division leader will not be a cakewalk after all, as Thought Process will skip the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar.

A foot issue interrupted the training of the Grade 1 winner, and after a three-week gap in her workouts, Thought Process will stay in the barn on Saturday.

“She had a little foot issue,” trainer Phil D’Amato said with little worry.

D’Amato has a backup plan. Thought Process has recovered from her sore foot and worked a half-mile Aug. 2, her first work since July 13. She will train into the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes on Sept. 7.

The absence of Thought Process from the 1 1/16-mile Yellow Ribbon, race 8 Saturday, gives eight others a shot at their first Grade 2 victory. The field includes Grade 3 winners Take A Breath, Whiskey Decision, Innovative, Warming, and Princesa Moche.

Take A Breath, third to Thought Process in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes last out at Santa Anita, was always targeting the Yellow Ribbon.

:: Play to Win at Del Mar! Get DRF Past Performances, Expert Picks and Clocker Reports

“We pointed for this race thinking Thought Process would be off to bigger and better things, and this would be a spot,” trainer Mark Glatt said.

Thought Process was considered for the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch on dirt Aug. 1 at Del Mar. Her setback puts Take A Breath among the Yellow Ribbon favorites based on her third in the Gamely, which followed back-to-back Grade 3 wins.

Take A Breath “is a really hard-trying filly, but Thought Process is sensational,” Glatt said.

Favoritism is uncertain in the Yellow Ribbon, which favorites have won the last four years. This year, the favorite could be Take A Breath. Emisael Jaramillo rides Take A Breath, imported from England last summer and fourth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in her only start at Del Mar.

Whiskey Decision, previously based in the East, relocated to California after finishing second in the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park. Whiskey Decision’s effort was flattered when winner Gimme a Nother subsequently won the Grade 2 Beverly D. Stakes and third-place Grayosh won a Grade 3 at Monmouth next out.

Previously trained by Chad Brown, Whiskey Decision is now trained by Michael McCarthy. Her rider is Umberto Rispoli.

The D’Amato-trained Innovative has a longshot look in the Yellow Ribbon based on her runner-up finish last out in the ungraded Possibly Perfect Stakes. It was her second start following a six-month layoff.

“She’s kind of rounding into form,” D’Amato said. “She needed her first one and then kind of got back where she was last time. Subsequently, she’s been breezing really well.”

Innovative will be ridden Saturday by Ricky Gonzalez.

Warming, third last out in the Anchorage Stakes at Churchill Downs, ships to Del Mar for Graham Motion. The trainer teamed with jockey Juan Hernandez to win both filly-mare turf stakes last summer at Del Mar – the Yellow Ribbon with Heredia and the Mabee with Gimme a Nother. Motion will team again Saturday with Hernandez; the trainer-jockey combo is 9 for 21 the past five years.

Princesa Moche could set the pace, stretching out from a fourth-place sprint. In a race with a murky pace scenario, Princesa Moche could get brave. But it won’t be a cakewalk. That will be Sept. 7, when Thought Process runs in the Mabee.

* The Yellow Ribbon is part of a pick six sequence with a two-day carryover of $148,537 heading into Saturday's card. The wager covers races 5-10.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.