Subsanador headed to Philip H. Iselin; Ruby Nell to miss Yellow Ribbon

DEL MAR, Calif. – Subsanador, a well-traveled Group 1 winner in South America and Grade 1-placed this spring in California, is headed to Monmouth Park for the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes on Aug. 17, according to trainer Richard Mandella.

Subsanador won three Group 1s from 12 starts in Argentina before arriving in California, where he initially was trained by John Sadler. After a fourth in the Grade 2 San Antonio and second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, Subsanador was sold privately and transferred to Mandella.

A fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Gold Cup was the 5-year-old’s first start for Mandella, who planned to run him in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 27 at Del Mar.

However, Subsanador was mistakenly given a medication intended for another horse. The medication is not allowed on race day, and Subsanador was scratched from the San Diego. He has subsequently worked twice, including a seven-furlong drill Tuesday at Del Mar.

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Mandella said Mike Smith is scheduled to ride Subsanador in the $250,000 Iselin at a mile and a sixteenth on dirt. Mandella’s Grade 1 wins at Monmouth include the 2023 Haskell with Geaux Rocket Ride and 2000 Haskell with Dixie Union. Subsanador, a 5-year-old now owned by Wathnan Racing, has won seven races and $253,124 from 15 starts.

Ruby Nell to miss Yellow Ribbon

Ruby Nell, the Mandella-trained turf filly expected to set the pace in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar, will miss the race. “She’s got a little sore in her throat we have to treat,” Mandella explained over the weekend.

Winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista in March at Santa Anita, Ruby Nell finished sixth last out at Santa Anita in the Grade 1 Gamely at a mile and one-eighth. Ruby Nell, a front-runner who is best up to a mile and a sixteenth, has won six races and $492,020 from 13 starts for Spendthrift Farm. She was assigned co-second high weight of 122 pounds for the Yellow Ribbon, at a mile and a sixteenth on turf.

Anisette, the 126-pound highweight for the Yellow Ribbon, worked well Sunday and is an intended starter in the Yellow Ribbon, trainer Leonard Powell said. Anisette won the Gamely last out, and both starts last summer at Del Mar – the Grade 2 San Clemente and Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks.

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