Chance to be Starlet for a day
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - At least on Sunday, No Bull Baby, Sharp Lisa, and Splendid Blended can escape the shadow of division leader Sweet Catomine.
Those three fillies finished behind Sweet Catomine in major stakes earlier this year, but face no such standout in Sunday's $380,000-estimated Hollywood Starlet at Hollywood Park.
The Starlet, run over 1 1/16 miles, offers , and their four opponents an opportunity at a lucrative prize in the year's final Grade 1 race for 2-year-old fillies.
The Starlet has drawn a strong field. Six of the seven entrants have won or placed in stakes.
Splendid Blended is likely to go favored, but there will be support for No Bull Baby, who won the Moccasin Stakes over seven furlongs here Nov. 21.
Splendid Blended finished second to Sweet Catomine by four lengths in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita in early October, but was held out of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies later that month. Splendid Blended returned to score an easy win in an allowance race over 1 1/16 miles here Nov. 14.
Trainer Neil Drysdale said he has no regrets about not sending Splendid Blended to the Juvenile Fillies, which Sweet Catomine won by 3 3/4 lengths.
Even though Splendid Blended beat a field that wasn't very strong in the allowance race, the prep served as a confidence booster, Drysdale said.
The field
Hollywood Starlet
Purse: $380,000; 1 1/16 miles; Grade 1
| PP | HORSE | JOCKEY | ODDS |
| 1 | Northern Mischief | G. Stevens | 6-1 |
| 2 | Charming Colleen | G. Gomez | 15-1 |
| 3 | Sharp Lisa | C. Nakatani | 2-1 |
| 4 | Kenza | M. Smith | 12-1 |
| 5 | Memorette | T. Baze | 10-1 |
| 6 | No Bull Baby | R. Douglas | 7-2 |
| 7 | Splendid Blended | K. Desormeaux | 8-5 |
* All starters carry 120 pounds
* Odds by Art Gropper