Plenty of guesswork needed in Jimmy Durante Stakes

Juvenile fillies from everywhere race a mile on the Del Mar turf Saturday in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes, a race in which the element of class would normally be a key consideration.

But measuring class is sometimes guesswork, which might explain why five of the eight winners since the Durante moved from Hollywood Park to Del Mar were coming off a maiden win. It could happen again Saturday in race 7.

Five of the 12 entrants in the $100,000 Durante are last-out maiden winners, from Delaware, Ireland, Northern California, New York, and Southern California. To win the Durante requires most to ship, run on unfamiliar ground, face better company, and negotiate a clean trip in a big field.

The maiden winners in the Durante are Liguria, who won at Aqueduct for trainer Chad Brown; Pallotta Sisters at Delaware for Graham Motion; Decorated My Life in Ireland and now trained by Simon Callaghan; Lollipop Gumdrop at Golden Gate for Michael McCarthy; and Ragtime Rose in a Santa Anita sprint for Jeff Mullins.

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Maybe finding the Durante winner is a simple matter of embracing the familiar. If so, a last-out allowance runner-up would offer one of the most attractive betting opportunities on the Saturday card.

Thebestisyettobe bombed in her U.S. debut in September. In hindsight, trainer Phil D’Amato believes he ran her too soon after she arrived from Ireland. Given two months off, Thebestisyettobe returned in an allowance and improved a ton.

“She ran much better and came out of it really good,” D’Amato said. “I think she’s ready to take another step, and she’s going to need to. I look forward to running her, because I know she’s doing well.”

What he does not know about Thebestisyettobe is if she is good enough, a question that applies to every Durante entrant. Flavien Prat rode Thebestisyettobe in both her U.S. starts, but he committed early to Liguria. Umberto Rispoli will ride Thebestisyettobe.

Liguria is a full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Avenge, and therefore it is reasonable to expect her to improve from her modest victory over a nondescript maiden field at Aqueduct.

Sell the Dream is a two-time runner-up in turf mile stakes returning to her preferred footing after she misfired in a California-bred stakes on dirt. Brian Koriner trains Sell the Dream, whose rider is Abel Cedillo.

Quickly Park It crushed a $75,000 stakes at Golden Gate last out, winning the turf mile by six lengths. Third-place Sally’s Sassy flattered the race winning a sprint stakes next out; fourth place Bolt’s Broad is a contender in race 1 on Saturday for maidens.

Decorated My Life arrived from Ireland three weeks ago. New trainer Simon Callaghan said the plan was to run her off the plane if everything went right. He expects her to relish firm ground, as do many Mehmas progeny, including recently retired Going Global.

Decorated My Life “has [sprint] speed,” Callaghan said. “But I think she’s going to have no problem getting a mile.”

Joe Bravo rides Decorated My Life.

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