Blanc back aboard Miss Serendipity for Yellow Ribbon
DEL MAR, Calif. – They’re getting the band back together Monday at Del Mar in the Grade 2, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap. Jockey Brice Blanc, sidelined for much of the meet following a harrowing accident on the turf, teams up with Miss Serendipity, who had a troubled trip last time out while Blanc was injured.
Blanc has been working horses in recent days and stopped by the barn of Miss Serendipity’s trainer, Hall of Famer Ron McAnally, on Saturday to check in. The last time they teamed up, Blanc and Miss Serendipity captured the Grade 1 Gamely at Santa Anita. McAnally is hoping for a similar outcome in the Yellow Ribbon, a 1 1/16-mile grass race for older females.
“He rides her best,” McAnally said of Blanc. “He gets her to relax, and that’s the main thing. “She’s got a bad post,” McAnally said, referring to the outside post in a field of nine, “but there’s speed, so she should be able to drop right over.”
The Yellow Ribbon includes four of the five runners who chased home the victorious Moulin de Mougin in the Grade 2 John Mabee going 1 1/8 miles on turf Aug. 10. Moulin de Mougin is sitting this race out, but Wishing Gate (second), Cozze Up Lady (third), Stormy Lucy (fourth), and Miss Serendipity (sixth and last) are back.
“She had a tough trip last time, but all in all, she was only beaten a few lengths,” McAnally said. “She’s trained well since the race, a couple of nice, easy works on the turf.”
The Yellow Ribbon is the ninth race of 11 on a Labor Day card that begins at 2 p.m. Pacific and also includes the I’m Smokin Stakes for California-bred 2-year-olds and the Oak Tree Juvenile Fillies Turf. This is the penultimate card of the meet. Closing day is Wednesday.
Yellow Ribbon Handicap, Race 9
KEY CONTENDERS
Miss Serendipity (Last 3 Beyers: 86-97-91)
◗ She never really had a clean run in the Mabee and eventually was stopped in midstretch at a critical point in the race when trying to rally belatedly.
◗ Her three prior races, all with Blanc, put her right in the mix, though this is a group that has taken turns beating one another all year.
Cozze Up Lady (Last 3 Beyers: 91-89-75)
◗ Finished third in the Mabee after capturing the Osunitas over this course earlier in the meet.
◗ A front-runner, her chances were compromised last time in the Mabee when Wishing Gate, who had an inside post, uncharacteristically pulled her way to the lead. With Wishing Gate drawn outside of Cozze Up Lady on Monday, perhaps Wishing Gate will settle better and afford a better chance to both herself and Cozze Up Lady.
Parranda (Last 3 Beyers: 88-87-92)
◗ She was good enough to finish third on Polytrack in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch last time out, but she has far more experience on turf, a surface over which she won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine and the Grade 3 Wilshire at Santa Anita earlier this year.
◗ In the Royal Heroine, she beat Moulin de Mougin – who came back to take the Mabee, franking the form of that race. Prior to that, Parranda was third in the Gamely to Miss Serendipity.
Stormy Lucy (Last 3 Beyers: 89-75-89)
◗ Wins earlier this year in the Grade 2 Santa Ana and Grade 3 Santa Barbara at Santa Anita put her atop the West Coast female turf division, but she has finished out of the money in three starts since then.
◗ Rafael Bejarano, who rode her to those two stakes victories earlier in the year, is reunited with her. He was on Miss Serendipity in the Mabee.