Baffert's pair enter Desi Arnaz with different levels of experience

Holmby and Sea’s No Joke enter the $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar with vastly different levels of experience, but the Bob Baffert trainees make a potent pair in the short field of five juvenile fillies.

“It seemed like a logical spot for them,” Baffert said. “Holmby, I think she’s better around one turn for now and we’ll play it by ear. And [Sea’s No Joke], she won going two turns. I figure we give her an out there, and then she’ll run in December at Los Alamitos in the [Grade 2] Starlet.”

As the California racing season has gone on, the 2-year-old crop has become increasingly sparse, giving Baffert a pronounced advantage due to his barn size. His two fillies in the Desi Arnaz will go up against the Michael McCarthy-trained debut winner Mo Chuisle and two maidens, Vino Vino Vino and Grammy’s Gal.

Holmby is the only runner in the field with stakes experience and has run in three graded races, including a winning effort in the Grade 3 Sorrento at Del Mar in August. After a distant runner-up finish behind Domain Expansion in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf, a 1 1/16-mile race around two turns at Santa Anita, Baffert decided it was time to cut back to a sprint.

“She’s not a very big filly, and she was a little bit light coming off Del Mar,” Baffert said. “Santa Anita is deep, and it was so hot that day. She still ran well. She shows up every time. She’s got a huge heart, but I think one turn is probably more her kind of race.”

In her last start at the Desi Arnaz’s seven-furlong distance, Holmby finished third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September behind Miss Monica, her stablemate who went on to finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Holmby was also considered for that race before coming up short in the Oak Leaf.

Sea’s No Joke will also cut back in distance in her stakes debut for Baffert. In her second career start off a short layoff, the Practical Joke filly stretched out to a two-turn mile at Santa Anita and went straight to the early lead, holding on to win a $65,000 maiden special weight with a 78 Beyer Speed Figure. Before she runs in the 1 1/16-mile Starlet at Los Alamitos, Baffert will give her a prep in stakes company at Del Mar.

“I think she’s getting better, and we’re just building off of every race,” Baffert said. “In California, when a race comes up, you need to take advantage. We were lucky to get a two-turn race to go, and she handled it well. This is when they start improving, and she needs a race to keep going.”

Mo Chuisle, an $825,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, tackled six furlongs in her debut for McCarthy last month and made an early move to score easily by 1 1/4 lengths. She soundly defeated Vino Vino Vino, who will face her again in stakes company.