Oaklawn: Loved looks for 2nd straight stakes win in Bayakoa

Loved, making her first start since winning the Falls City (G3) in November, was made the 9-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn.

The Falls City was the first stakes win for the 6-year-old Medaglia d’Oro Mare, who has a record of 10: 5-0-0. With regular rider Tyler Gaffalione in the irons, she pulled away to win the 1 1/8-mile race by 3 3/4 lengths on a muddy track at Churchill Downs.

A Godolphin homebred trained by Brendan Walsh, Loved has been training at Turfway, with five-furlong works in 1:01.00 in her last two outings. Gaffalione returns for the Bayakoa.

The 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa, for fillies and mares 4 years old and up, drew a field of six.

The second choice on the morning line is Corningstone at 2-1. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the 6-year-old Kantharos mare has won her last two starts, the one-mile Mistletoe and the 1 1/16-mile Pippin, both at Oaklawn. Julien Leparoux was aboard for both trips and gets the call Saturday.

Free Like a Girl will make her 48th career start in the Bayakoa and is third on the morning line at 3-1. The 6-year-old daughter of El Deal, trained by Chasey Pomier, won three stakes in a row before finishing fourth in her last two starts, most recently the Houston Ladies Classic (G3) on Jan. 25.