D'Amato well represented in Yellow Ribbon

DEL MAR, Calif. – Summer vacation continues for the top female turf horse in California, but even without his Grade 1 winner Macadamia running Saturday at Del Mar, trainer Phil D’Amato is well-stocked for the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap.

D’Amato trains three of the seven in the 1 1/16-mile turf-race – unlucky Lucky Girl, trip-compromised School Dance, and comebacker Turnerloose. Their main rival in the Yellow Ribbon is 122-pound highweight Closing Remarks, trained by Carla Gaines.

Macadamia, winner of the Grade 1 Gamely in May at Santa Anita, was assigned 124 pounds for the Yellow Ribbon. But after owner R Unicorn Stable paid $100,000 to make her eligible to the Breeders’ Cup, D’Amato plotted a three-start fall campaign that skips the Yellow Ribbon.

“We just thought the spacing between the Mabee and Rodeo Drive leading up to the Breeders’ Cup is better,” D’Amato said. “She’ll breeze every Sunday going into the Mabee, then go to the Rodeo Drive and Breeders’ Cup.”

The Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes is Sept. 9 at Del Mar, followed by two races at Santa Anita – the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes on Oct. 7 and Grade 1 BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 4.

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Any of those stakes might be a reach for the Yellow Ribbon participants who have combined to win all of one graded turf stakes. Closing Remarks won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine in April, then had compromising trips in both subsequent starts. Gaines switches riders Saturday.

“She had some really troubled trips, so we just freshened her up,” Gaines said. “She’s run very well off a layoff; she’s doing really well.”

Closing Remarks’s new rider in the Yellow Ribbon is Umberto Rispoli, replacing Joe Bravo. Closing Remarks, a California-bred by Vronsky, has won four races and $561,320 from 20 starts for Gaines and owner-breeder John Harris.

While the class-speed attributes of Closing Remarks are clear, backing the D’Amato trio requires imagination and video-replay review. Lucky Girl had a brutal trip in her comeback in the restricted Osunitas Stakes.

Just when Lucky Girl launched her rally in deep stretch, a rival shut her off. D’Amato described the incident. Bravo “had to snatch up pretty hard, then got her back to the inside in the clear to regain her momentum. She finished great, and her gallop-out was unbelievable.”

Lucky Girl finished sixth by 1 1/4 lengths. Considering the trouble, it was an outstanding comeback. Lucky Girl is better this year at age 4. A two-time minor stakes winner, she will be ridden again by Bravo.

Graded-placed School Dance will revert to an off-the-pace strategy after tiring in the Gamely.

“Flavien [Prat] said she just hated to be on the lead, he said she totally resented it,” D’Amato explained. “We’re going to have her in a nice stalking position. She can track and pounce.”

Ramon Vazquez rides School Dance.

D’Amato’s third starter Turnerloose is making her first start since October. Others in the field include potential pacesetter first-time-turf Ganadora, shipper Spirit And Glory, and Awake At Midnyte. The Yellow Ribbon goes off as race 9.

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