Take A Breath Aims to Defend Home Turf in Yellow Ribbon

The Eastern assault on the stakes menu of Del Mar continues Aug. 8 in the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes (G2T), with representatives from the talent-rich stables trained by Graham Motion, Mike Maker, Jose D'Angelo, and Victoria Oliver among the field of eight. Their task will be made a little easier by the absence of local division leader Thought Process, the impressive winner of the Gamely Stakes (G1T) in late May and the Buena Vista Stakes (G2T) before that. The daughter of Collected is being pointed instead for the John C. Mabee Stakes (G2T) later in the Del Mar meet by trainer Phil D'Amato. "She breezed last Sunday," D'Amato said, referring to an easy half-mile turned in by Thought Process Aug. 2. "But she missed a breeze before that with a foot abscess." Thought Process was among half a dozen Yellow Ribbon nominees from the deep D'Amato pool of turf horses. This time around, the assignment goes to Innovative, a daughter of Complexity who is fresh from a wafer-thin loss in the Possibly Perfect Stakes June 12 at Santa Anita Park. Whiskey Decision is making her first start for Michael McCarthy after an up-and-down East Coast career, while Doug O'Neill, currently cruising along at the top of the Del Mar standings, will send out the Peruvian mare Princesa Moche (PER). She took the Megahertz Stakes (G3T) in January and comes out of a good fourth 13 days ago in the 5-furlong Daisycutter Handicap. If there is a challenger to Thought Process as top cat among the West's turf females, the title goes to Take A Breath (GB), trained by Mark Glatt for Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners and Chivalry Thoroughbred Racing. The British-bred daughter of Bated Breath (GB) was third in the Gamely following back-to-back scores in the Santa Ana Stakes (G3T) and Royal Heroine Stakes (G3T). After winning three of seven races at the Class 4 and 5 level in Europe for William Haggas, Take a Breath turned up in California last summer to finish a fast-closing fourth in the Del Mar Oaks (G1T). "That was pretty much right off the boat," Glatt said. "Then we came back with her at Santa Anita, and she had the most awful trip when she was loaded coming up the inside, then almost went down." Glatt was referring to an allowance optional claiming race Sept. 28, 2025, at Santa Anita in which Take a Breath and Hector Berrios had a scary moment when a hole closed while they were in full flight. Berrios eased his filly back to finish last. "The experience probably took more out of her than I thought, and after that I probably ran her back too quick," Glatt said. "But we were able to get her right, and she's been good for us since." Relaxing in her corner stall, front feet in a bucket of ice, Take A Breath offered a neat bay package with a blaze and three white ankles. "She's not the biggest filly, but big enough, and actually pretty good size compared to most Euro fillies," Glatt said, then added the ultimate California compliment: "She's real cool." So is Kennyten, a son of the hot young stallion Drain the Clock and owned by Dave and Holly Wilson, who tops a field of six going in the Best Pal Stakes (G3) earlier on the Aug. 8 Del Mar program. "Nothing fazes him," said Kennyten's trainer, Vladimir Cerin. "He enjoys training, the slower the better, and if you put him in company he'll go faster." Faster, like he did Aug. 1 when he zipped five-eighths in :59 3/5 while working with an older stablemate. Kerryten's scorching debut June 12 at Santa Anita resulted in a 7 1/2-length romp over the odds-on Bob Baffert colt Nayar. For those who keep track of such things, Kerryten's Beyer Speed Figure that day came in at 92, with an Equibase Speed Figure of 98. Baffert will counter in the Best Pal with Hughes, a 6-length maiden special weight winner June 21 as Los Alamitos Race Course. "I don't think his race was a fluke," Cerin said. "I really think he has ability. And he's got a great mind, which can take them a long way." The Best Pal is the lone open graded stakes opportunity for 2-year-olds on a summer program leading to the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity (G1) Sept. 6, the final weekend of the meet.