When Anisette first met Didia 11 months ago in the Rodeo Drive (G2) at Santa Anita, she was a relatively inexperienced three-year-old taking on a tough older mare while trying 1 1/4 miles for the first time. Although Didia came out on top by 1 3/4 lengths in that showdown, the result of their long-awaited rematch in Saturday’s $250,000 John C. Mabee (G2) might turn out different.
The 1 1/8-mile Mabee, one of three stakes on the penultimate day of Del Mar’s summer meet, has come up Grade 1 in quality with the two protagonists likely to attract the bulk of the wagering dollars.
The Rodeo Drive was Anisette’s first loss since her importation from Britain earlier last season. She would finish second again in her start after the Rodeo Drive, the one-mile Autumn Miss (G3) that proved too short for her, but she resumed her winning ways in the American Oaks (G1) and has won both starts this season in the Gamely (G1) and Yellow Ribbon H. (G2).
In Anisette’s favor in this rematch is her 3-for-3 mark at Del Mar, a streak that started last summer in the San Clemente (G2) and Del Mar Oaks (G1). The Mabee will mark Didia’s first race at the San Diego-area course.
Didia’s record since their last meeting has been a mixed bag. Tenth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) after the Rodeo Drive, she rebounded to win the Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G2) by a neck. But her first top-level success in America, in the June 7 New York (G1) at Saratoga, was bookended by a third in the Jenny Wiley (G1) on unsuitably wet ground and a seemingly subpar fourth in the Diana (G1) last out.
Five others will take on the above pair, but all would be surprise winners. The more logical of them are Uncorked and Fuente Ovejuna, who finished in a dead heat for second behind Anisette in the Yellow Ribbon last month.
Nooni will look to sweep Del Mar’s top juvenile filly features earlier in the card when she heads a field of seven in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante (G1) over seven furlongs. The Bob Baffert-trained daughter of Win Win Win built on her 9 1/2-length debut score at Santa Anita in June with another wire-to-wire in the Sorrento (G3) on Aug. 10, albeit by a lesser margin of 1 1/2 lengths over returning rival Vodka With a Twist.
Baffert will also be represented by last-out maiden winner Tenma, while fellow recent graduates Proud Starlet and stakes-placed So There She Was add depth to the field.
Baffert trainee Casalu, who finished third to Nooni in the Sorrento, will sidestep a rematch with her stablemate and instead be one of a dozen in the $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf over one mile.
Also likely to attract play are European imports Fondest Dream and An Chorr Dubh, both of whom won at first asking, and the Del Mar turf maiden winners Thought Process and Supa Speed.
