Executiveprivilege tops Starlet; Inglorious faces Cal-based runners in Bayakoa

Executiveprivilege was geared down to take the Chandelier two back by 6 1/4 lengths (Benoit Photos)

Executiveprivilege will try for her third Grade 1 win of 2012 when she takes
on seven other two-year-old fillies in the $500,000

Hollywood Starlet on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

Scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over the Cushion Track, the Starlet is the richer
of two graded stakes to be offered on the next-to-last Saturday of the autumn
meet. Older fillies and mares will get together in the Grade 2, $200,000
Bayakoa,
which will also be run at 1 1/16 miles over the main Cushion Track.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Executiveprivilege suffered her first
defeat in six races when second, one length behind Beholder, in the Breeders’
Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 2. If successful Saturday, the bay daughter of
First Samurai would become the lone two-year-old filly in the country with three
Grade 1 wins having already already captured the Del Mar Debutante and
Chandelier Stakes.

Executiveprivilege could also provide Baffert with his third Starlet victory,
following Excellent Meeting (1998) and Habibti (2001).

Midnight Ballet and Leparoux will team back up in the Starlet (Benoit Photos)

Midnight Ballet, the upset winner of the November 11 Sharp Cat going the
Starlet distance in her first Cushion Track attempt, will be seeking her third
win in four races on Saturday. The Tom Proctor-trained Midnight Lute filly was
making her stakes bow in that race and gets the services of Julien Leparoux in
her second black-type attempt.

Renee’s Titan, Scarlet Strike and Rhodium were the respective second, third
and fourth-place runners in the Sharp Cat and will line back up on Saturday
against Midnight Ballet. Renee’s Titan will be trying for her second victory at
Hollywood after breaking her maiden over the track in late June, while Scarlet
Strike is seeking to the turn the tables on both Midnight Ballet and
Executiveprivilege after finishing second to the latter in the Chandelier two
back. Rhodium just broke her maiden prior to the Sharp Cat.

Supplemented to the Starlet at a cost of $10,000 — with an additional
$10,000 to start — Pure Fun ships to California for trainer Ken McPeek. The
Pure Prize filly will be making her synthetic track debut following a 9
1/4-length romp in an optional claiming event at Churchill Downs on November 24.
Garret Gomez has the call.

Inglorious will try to return to her winning ways in the Bayakoa (WEG/Michael Burns Photography)

Trained by Josie Carroll, the four-year-old Hennessy filly is victorious in
five of six races over synthetic surfaces thus far. Inglorious has been idle
since finishing third in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly at Woodbine July 8, which was
just her third start of the year. The bay’s biggest win to date came against the
boys in last year’s Queen’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who won the 2010 Bayakoa with Washington Bridge,
will try for another with Lady of Fifty. The After Market sophomore will be
making her first start at Hollywood Park off a nice win in the Palm Springs
Handicap at Santa Anita. The gray miss also captured the California Oaks over
Golden Gate Fields’ synthetic Tapeta to start off her 2012 campaign.

Trainer Ron McAnally will be represented by Charm the Maker as he seeks a
record-tying fifth win in the race. John Shirreffs is the current record holder,
establishing the mark with Zardana in 2009.

Willa B Awesome is also seeking a return to the winner’s circle (Benoit Photos)

Fellow three-year-old Willa B Awesome does not have that problem as the
Awesome Gambler miss stretches out from 7 1/2 furlongs after finishing third in
the Cat’s Cradle Handicap on November 18. The Walther Solis pupil, a four-time
stakes victress, captured the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in March and followed up
with a nose score in the Melair going nine furlongs on the Cushion Track.

Class Included will be making her synthetic debut for trainer Jim Penney
after suffering her first non-top two finish when seventh of eight in the
Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic on November 2 at Santa Anita. The Include filly
was a winner of four consecutive stakes at Emerald Downs and Hastings Park prior
to her loss in the Ladies’ Classic.

The Bayakoa field is completed by Open Water, who returns to a synthetic
surface after four consecutive races on turf; Changethechannel, who will be
making her stakes debut; and Madera Castana, who will be trying to end a losing
streak that is more than two-years old.