The 74th running of the Yellow Ribbon Stakes (G2) is set for Saturday, and the race carries a $200,000 purse for the 3-year-old and up fillies and mares who will race 1 1/16 miles over the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.
This is the Del Mar version of the race, which was formerly the Palomar Handicap and renamed the Yellow Ribbon in 2012. It is distinct from the historic Yellow Ribbon Stakes (now the Rodeo Drive Stakes) run at Santa Anita/Oak Tree at longer distances.
The Yellow Ribbon race has produced multiple graded winners and serves as a key midsummer test for West Coast turf fillies and mares.
Some of the more notable winners include several two-time victors and standout performers. Tranquility Lake became the first repeat winner with victories in 2000 and 2001 for owners Pam and Martin Wygod.
Gotta Have Her followed with consecutive wins in 2009 and 2010, while She’s Not Here took the race in 2015 and 2016, and Cambodia did the same in 2017 and 2018 for Winter Quarter Farm and trainer Thomas F. Proctor.
Mea Domina set the stakes record of 1:39.67 in 2006 for Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally. Other strong recent winners include Intercontinental (2005), Precious Kitten (2007), Voodoo Dancer (2002), Anisette (2024), Going Global (2022), Princess Grace (2021), Closing Remarks (2023), and Heredia (2025).
A seven-horse field is entered, led by Whiskey Decision (2-1), who is owned by Alpha Delta Stables LLC., and is a high-class East Coast shipper making her first start in California and for trainer Michael McCarthy.
She was purchased for $1.5 million last year out of the Keeneland November Sale as a graded stakes winner of the Eatontown Stakes (G3), though she also won the listed Athenia Stakes and earned strong placings in others. She often rates mid-pack or saves ground before launching a strong late kick. She is proven at the distance and level and is a major player if she transfers her form westward.
Take A Breath (3-1) is a British import who broke through in the U.S. with consecutive Group 3 wins in 2026 in the Santa Ana (G3) and Royal Heroine (G3) both at Santa Anita. She had earlier placed in allowances events and handicaps in Europe before being imported a year ago. She is an improving type and versatile at a mile to 1 ¼ miles, so this slight cut back in distance should help her. She can sit off the pace or make a sustained run from mid-pack/outside, and she is a leading contender on recent graded form for trainer Mark Glatt and jockey Emisael Jaramillo.
The American Pharoah mare Sweet Rebecca (7-2) has been a consistent winner with multiple 2026 stakes successes, including the Sand Springs Stakes at Gulfstream Park and the Wasted Tears Stakes at Lone Star. She also took allowances and another black-type event as a 2-year-old. Her preferred style is to rate off the pace or track closely before finding a seam or a hole and accelerating late. Her strong recent form for trainer Mike Maker makes her a logical contender, so keep an eye on the tote board.
Peruvian-bred Princesa Moche (6-1), from trainer Doug F. O’Neill, is a tough mare with a lot of miles under her girth. She won the Megahertz Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita in early 2026 in a stalking/pressing fight to the wire for a tight finish, but she hasn’t won since.
Previously she did place in the Las Cienegas (G3) and won allowances at Del Mar/Santa Anita after a successful career in Peru. Versatile and game she often presses or stalks the pace and shows true grit in the stretch, and her local form over this course is a plus. Joe Bravo returns to town to ride.
H. Graham Motion ships Warming (6-1) out West for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. Last year’s winner of the 2025 Autumn Miss (G3) at Santa Anita, she has competed on turf, dirt, and synthetic with mixed results since, though she did annex the Gallorette Stakes (G3) at Laurel Park handily two back. She seems to prefer turf and often races prominently or just off the pace early. Motion’s presence and her graded win give her credentials with local top jockey Juan Hernandez accepting the call.
Princess Attitude (12-1) is owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and trained by his daughter, Victoria Oliver. She has a solid East Coast/Midwest turf record with two wins, including a tough Churchill Downs allowance at a mile in May and brings decent form into this race. She is coming off a second in the Indiana General Assembly Distaff Handicap at Hoosier Indianapolis last month but also has shown some competitively ability in graded company (fifth in the 2025 Dueling Grounds Oaks). She has shown herself to be a stalker or mid-pack runner who saves ground and finishes determinedly. Oliver, who was the conditioner for two-time winner She’s Not Here tabs local rider Kazushi Kimura for the 1 1/16-mile event.
Joel Rosario has accepted the call for trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo on Vincey Girl (12-1). Primarily a dirt/sprint specialist with stakes wins such as the Sheer Drama Handicap at Gulfstream Park a year ago and recent allowance successes there as well as Tampa Bay Downs, she has tried graded dirt sprints with mixed results. She typically comes from off the pace or mid-pack and finishes strongly in shorter races; the turf route is a stretch in style and surface, so she’s definitely a question.
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