Bast can make statement in Chandelier Stakes

Bast, the runaway winner of the Del Mar Debutante in her last start, looks to solidify her position as the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies when she seeks her second straight Grade 1 triumph on Friday in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes, which helps kick off the fall season at Santa Anita.

The Chandelier will mark Bast’s first try around two turns, and it should bring clarity as to whether she’s the one to beat come Nov. 1, as the Chandelier is run at the same distance – 1 1/16 miles – and track as the Juvenile Fillies five weeks hence.

Bast wasn’t quite quick enough to win her debut at the abbreviated distance of 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 11, but 20 days later, with another three-sixteenths of a mile with which to work, the addition of blinkers, and a dream trip, she was a dominating winner of the Del Mar Debutante, scoring by 8 3/4 lengths with a Beyer Speed Figure of 85. Since moving north to Santa Anita, she has recorded three drills.

“She handled seven-eighths really well, and as heavy as this track has been she’s worked really well,” said her trainer, Bob Baffert.

Bast is by Uncle Mo and is out of an Arch mare (Laffina), so this distance should be within her range.

“She’s not your typical Uncle Mo. She’s beautiful,” said Baffert, who along with Bast’s owners, Susan and Charles Chu, and bloodstock agent Donato Lanni decided to go right back to the well, buying a yearling half-brother by California Chrome out of Laffina at the recently concluded Keeneland sale.

Five others are signed up to face Bast, including two trained by Doug O’Neill, Buyer’s Remorse and Comical

Comical is the more accomplished of the two, and she’s the most experienced horse in the race, with her four starts including a victory in the Schuylerville at Saratoga, in which she got a Beyer Figure of 80. She most recently finished 9 1/4 lengths behind Bast when third in the Del Mar Debutante.

Buyer’s Remorse was second against maidens at Del Mar in her lone start.

K P Dreamin might be the biggest danger to Bast. She is the only horse in the race who has gone two turns, that a victory in her second start on Aug. 29 at Del Mar when going a mile against maidens.

“I think having that race gives us an edge,” her trainer, Jeff Mullins, said Wednesday morning. “We always felt she’d go farther.”

Leucothea stopped badly in the Del Mar Debutante and finished last of eight when coming back just 16 days after a runaway win against maiden claimers in which she earned a Beyer Figure of 91. She will be the one to catch.

Been Studying Her, unbeaten in two starts, beat California-breds in the Generous Portion last time out at Del Mar.

The Chandelier goes as race 5 on the nine-race card.