Eda concluded her juvenile campaign Saturday with a flourish, notching her third consecutive stakes victory in the $300,500 Starlet S. (G1) at Los Alamitos under Juan Hernandez.
Perched outside longshot Benedict Canyon through the first several furlongs, Eda took over shortly before the halfway point. Narrowly ahead entering the stretch, Eda surrendered the lead to Tonito’s with a furlong to go, but fought back to regain control and won by a half-length as the 11-10 favorite.
Owned by Baoma Corporation and trained by Bob Baffert, Eda paid $4.20 after negotiating 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:44.51.
Finishing second in the Starlet by a neck was Cairo Memories, while Tonito’s weakened to third. It was three lengths back to Desert Dawn, with Benedict Canyon and Grace Adler completing the order of finish.
With all Bob Baffert trainees ineligible to accrue qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) next spring, the only Oaks points awarded in the Starlet were those to the second- through fourth-place finishers. Cairo Memories earned four points, Tonito’s two points, and Desert Dawn one point. The latter now as a total of three points.
Elevated from second to first on debut at Santa Anita in June, Eda finished second by a head in the Sorrento (G2) at Del Mar next out, and then threw in her only clunker of the season when finishing a distant fifth in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) after dueling through a fast pace.
Eda rebounded in the Anoakia S. at Santa Anita, winning that seven-furlong feature by 2 1/4 lengths. The margin was 4 1/4 lengths in the Nov. 5 Desi Arnaz S. at Del Mar, also over seven furlongs. Eda has now bankrolled $370,000.
Bred in Kentucky by Nathan McCauley, Eda was most recently sold for $550,000 at the OBS March sale of juveniles. By Munnings, she was reared by Show Me, a Lemon Drop Kid half-sister to Grade 3 winner Aegean.
