Princess Grace makes Yellow Ribbon third stakes victory in row

DEL MAR, Calif. - Princess Grace, the lone filly or mare from out of town, looked very comfortable on the Del Mar turf in Saturday’s Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes.

Princess Grace won her third consecutive stakes with a sharp rally in the final quarter-mile.

Trainer Mike Stidham was quick to credit Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who made a winning move by guiding the 4-year-old Princess Grace between runners entering the stretch.

“I thought he would go around and when I saw him go through there, I thought, this is too good to be true,” Stidham said.

Princess Grace ($9.20) ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.84, finishing 1 1/4 lengths in front of 3-1 favorite Dogtag, who rallied wide through the stretch. Umberto Rispoli, who rode Dogtag, credited Desormeaux’s strategy to remain inside at a pivotal time in the stretch.

Princess Grace got a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

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“I think Kent rode a helluva race,” Rispoli said. “I knew he was the No. 1 danger.

“I’m tracking him and trying to follow. At the quarter-pole, he went through that gap. There was space for one horse. His filly kept going. I have no regrets.”

For the 51-year-old Desormeaux, the $202,000 Yellow Ribbon was his first graded stakes win since Ollie’s Candy won the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes here in July 2019 and his second stakes win of 2021. Desormeaux missed several months of riding in the second half of 2020 while dealing with personal issues.

“Kent is so talented and I’m glad that he’s straightened out,” Stidham said. “I’m so happy for him.”

Desormeaux had Princess Grace in fourth and then fifth for the first half of the Yellow Ribbon, tracking pacesetter Raymundos Secret through early fractions of 23.06 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.61 for a half-mile.

Desormeaux said Princess Grace was an eager filly on the turn.

“She carried me,” Desormeaux said. “She was ready to go. When they spread, she got in there. I was driving a Porsche and could press the gas.”

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Dogtag finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of Maxim Rate, the winner of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita on May 31. Maxim Rate was the 7-2 third choice.

Bodhicitta finished fourth, followed by Keeper Ofthe Stars, Charmaine’s Mia, Laura’s Light, Brooke, and Raymundos Secret.

Princess Grace, by Karakontie, races for owners and breeders Susan and John Moore. The Yellow Ribbon was Princess Grace’s third consecutive stakes win, preceded by the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs last November and her 2021 debut in the Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes at Parx Racing on July 6.

Princess Grace has won 5 of 6 starts and has earned $440,460. Her lone loss was a second by a half-length in the Grade 3 Valley View Stakes at Keeneland last October.