Starlet Stakes 2017: Odds and analysis for Los Alamitos

By Jonathan Lintner

The Grade 1, $300,000 Starlet Stakes lost its likely morning line favorite when trainer Bob Baffert declined to enter Alluring Star due to an elevated temperature. But a compact but talented group of 2-year-old fillies will head to the gate Saturday without the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up.

Baffert’s other contender, Dream Tree, heads a field of five that will go in the points-paying Kentucky Oaks prep, run as a companion to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity for the colts on the same card.

Here’s a look at the Starlet with morning line odds:

1. Exuberance [8-1 Ian Kruljac, Tyler Baze] It clicked last out for the daughter of Archarcharch, who broke her maiden at third asking in a 6 1/2-length romp at Santa Anita Park. Notably, this filly has a race over the surface at Los Alamitos, where she was a fast-closing third in the Sept. 16 Barretts Debutante Stakes. The victory in her next start came at a mile, also from off the pace. She’ll be closing.

2. Piedi Bianchi [5-2 Doug O’Neill, Kyle Frey] — She had to navigate some traffic on her way to a fifth-place finish in the Juvenile Fillies. Given the short field here, that energy can instead be expended in the stretch. Piedi Bianchi nearly chased down Moonshine Memories in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante but was closing off an opening half mile in 44.85. Will need hot early fractions.

3. Dream Tree [8-5 Bob Baffert, Drayden Van Dyke] — She beat the same horse, Midnight Bisou, by a nose in both fillies’ only two career starts. While they hit the wire 5 1/4 lengths ahead of the next-closest contender in Del Mar’s Nov. 18 Desi Arnaz Stakes, Dream Tree was being tracked down in the stretch. It’s encouraging that she returned straight to the work tab. May prefer sprinting.

(SCRATCHED) 4. War Heroine [9-5 Peter Miller, Flavien Prat] There’s not much suggesting she can’t compete at this level except that Lonhro, her sire, is better known for his turf progeny. War Heroine broke her maiden by open lengths at first asking and was under a hold late. Though she’s only run once, the filly has worked consistently dating back to October, and her trainer is hot. A bit of a wildcard.

5. Yesterday’s News [8-1 Simon Callaghan, Mario Gutierrez] It’s interesting to see one owned by Reddam Racing, ridden by Gutierrez and not trained by Doug O’Neill. But we digress. Yesterday’s News broke her maiden three starts back on dirt but switched to turf to run in stakes company at Santa Anita. She’ll move back to what appears to be her preferred surface. A lot to question in the PPs.

Summary: Dream Tree will take money here, but there’s nothing about the filly that insists she wants to go this distance. She should, however, go fast early. The setup will be ideal for the likes of Exuberance, especially if she saves ground along the rail, while War Heroine also appears eligible to improve.