Bast will target Chandelier Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Bast, romping winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante on Saturday, came out of the race well and will be pointed to the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes at Santa Anita on that meet’s opening day, Sept. 27, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.

The Chandelier is the West’s major prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and this year it takes on added significance as it will be run at the same distance and over the same track as the Breeders’ Cup five weeks later.

Bast got a Beyer Speed Figure of 85 for her 8 3/4-length victory in the seven-furlong Debutante. She provided Baffert with his eighth victory in the race, and his first since Executiveprivilege in 2012.

“She came back like it was nothing,” Baffert said of Bast on Sunday morning. “Licked her feed tub dry.”

Bast, by Uncle Mo, is owned by Charles and Susan Chu.

Baffert’s second Debutante entrant, Stellar Sound, finished a well-beaten fifth after attending the pace.

“She went nuts. She lost it,” Baffert said. “She got too excited. She displaced, too. I thought I could be right there with both of them.”