In one of the quietest weekends of the racing year for graded stakes in North America, Los Alamitos race course in Cypress, Calif., finds itself hosting the lone graded event, the Grade 2 Starlet for 2-year-old fillies – an important fixture that became a staple of the fall-winter meet at Hollywood Park starting in the early 1980s. The Starlet, along with the Hollywood Futurity – a corresponding race for 2-year-old males – was moved to Los Alamitos with the closure of Hollywood Park in 2013.
Just like the Futurity, the Los Alamitos version of the Starlet has been dominated by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won six consecutive renewals since 2017, giving him nine wins overall in the event. Baffert has won seven of the last nine runnings of the Futurity (scheduled at Los Alamitos next week) and 13 overall.
But while the Starlet is this week's lone graded stakes, there is stakes action throughout the country, including nine Louisiana Champions Day events for Louisiana-breds at Fair Grounds on Saturday. The Gulfstream Park championship meet is in full swing with a pair of stakes for 2-year-olds of each sex on Saturday – the Pulpit and Wait a While to be run over the South Florida track's new turf course. Oaklawn's first Saturday of the 2023-'24 meet features the Mistletoe Stakes for fillies and mares and the Ring the Bell Stakes for 3 and up sprinters. Turfway Park offers the My Charmer on Saturday and Tampa Bay Downs will have two FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes for older runners. Canada's Woodbine is hosting a pair of Ontario-bred stakes on Saturday (La Prevoyante) and Sunday (Steady Growth).
Overseas, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is conducting its major quartet of Group 1 turf stakes on Sunday at Sha Tin, with first post for that card late Saturday night in the Eastern Time Zone of the U.S. An excellent lineup of horses from around the world has converged on Hong Kong for that annual fixture.
Saturday
7:28 p.m. ET – Grade 2 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos
A half-dozen juvenile fillies have entered the Grade 2, $200,000 Starlet, and there is no standout in this group going 1 1/16 miles.
The aforementioned Bob Baffert has two strong chances, led by 9-5 morning line favorite Nothing Like You, bidding for her third consecutive victory after three unsuccessful attempts to break her maiden. The Malibu Moon filly is coming off a hard-fought nose victory in the ungraded Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 19. She will be ridden by Juan Hernandez.
The other Baffert, listed at 5-2 in the morning line, is the Uncle Mo filly Grazia, who won her debut at Del Mar Nov. 12 by 3 1/4 lengths as the odds-on favorite. Flavien Prat has the call aboard Grazia.
The lone graded stakes winner in the group is Mark Glatt-trained Chatalas, a daughter of Gun Runner who went gate to wire to win the G2 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita Oct. 7. She subsequently finished a troubled ninth behind Just F Y I in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies after being jostled hard at the start. Antonio Fresu rides.
Two maidens in the race, Richard Mandella-trained Flynn's Chance and Doug O'Neill-trained Pacific Rose, have shown some ability in their previous races and have every right to improve. The final starter, Great Forty Eight, got it together in her fourth start for Tim Yakteen to exit the maiden ranks at Del Mar Nov. 12.
Sunday
Night owls will find some familiar names in the four Group 1 events comprising the Hong Kong International Races from Sha Tin in a 10-race program that gets under way at 11:25 p.m. Eastern / 8:25 p.m. Pacific.
Aidan O'Brien is sending an especially solid contingent from Ballydoyle in Ireland, and several Japanese horsemen are taking advantage of the lucrative purses and international prestige of this premiere event. France, the United Kingdom and Singapore are also taking on a home team of Hong Kong-trained runners who are becoming increasingly stronger with each passing year. There are no U.S.-based horses competing this year.
Free past performances courtesy of the Hong Kong Jockey Club
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Equibase Speed Figure earned isn't the highest in the field, but we can assume it's going to improve markedly because Grazia is on the same pattern as 2022 Starlet winner Faiza, also trained by Baffert. Faiza had won her only start prior to this race last year, earning an 84 figure, which improved to 92 winning the race. Assuming similar improvement for Grazia, we can expect an effort worthy of a 97 figure which is more than good enough to win this year's Starlet.