She's Not Here may return for John Mabee Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. - She’s Not Here, the winner of the $201,035 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar for the second consecutive year on Saturday, was scheduled to be shipped to trainer Vicki Oliver’s base in Kentucky this week.

She may not be there long before a return trip to California.

Phil Oliver, the trainer’s husband, said on Sunday that She’s Not Here may return to Del Mar for the $200,000 John Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on Sept. 4.

“We’re toying with the idea of the Mabee,” Oliver said.

She’s Not Here has won 3 of 4 starts at Del Mar in her career, including the 2015 Yellow Ribbon. She was a troubled eighth in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes here last November.

Oliver said the main goal later this year is the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

“We’ll probably run two or three times to get to the Breeders’ Cup,” Phil Oliver said. “We probably won’t run too much.”

She’s Not Here ($20.40) closed from fourth in a field of eight to win the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon by a neck over 18-1 Fresh Feline. The runner-up is a candidate for the Mabee, trainer John Shirreffs said on Sunday.

She’s Not Here races for G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and Ian Banwell. The 5-year-old mare has won 6 of 22 starts and earned $403,903. She has earned $287,050 of that at Del Mar.

“She seems like she’s a little better at Del Mar,” Phil Oliver said.