Hollywood Park notes: Arethusa will be tested in Starlet

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The goal for Arethusa in the $100,250 Sharp Cat Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 16 was to get a stakes placing for a filly who was winless in her first three starts.

Arethusa delivered much more, closing from last in a field of six to win the Sharp Cat Stakes by an emphatic 8 1/4 lengths as a 10-1 outsider. The win has led to greater expectations for Saturday’s $500,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes, a Grade 1 over the same 1 1/16 miles as the Sharp Cat.

“She ran better than I expected,” trainer Eoin Harty said. “The 2-year-old races at this time of year can come up with short fields. I was taking a chance in the Sharp Cat.

“She has a home-field advantage. She has trained on this track since early in her 2-year-old year.”

The field will be tougher in the Starlet, which has a projected field of eight. The probable starters include Rosalind, who was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2; Concave, who won the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar in August; and Untapable, who won the Grade 2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs in September.

Other runners are Bajan, the winner of two sprint stakes this fall, as well as Be Proud, Streaming, and Taste Like Candy.

Dubai You X Y Z returns

Dubai You X Y Z is described by trainer Mark Tsagalakis something of a “fragile” horse. He is also very talented.

A 6-year-old gelding, Dubai You X Y Z has won five of nine starts and $162,400. Friday, Dubai You X Y Z starts for only the third time this year, and first time since May, in an optional claimer on turf.

“I get two or three races out of him and I have to give him a break,” Tsagalakis said on Wednesday.

The latest layoff was caused by intestinal issues diagnosed at a clinic, Tsagalakis said. “They put a lot of fluids in him,” he said.

Dubai You X Y Z was sixth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile in 2012. Tsagalakis expects a strong race on Friday in a seven-horse field.

“If he’s good enough, he’s good enough,” he said. “I expect him to run his race.”

Tiz Flirtatious’s future

Tiz Flirtatious, the winner of six stakes who was fifth in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes last Sunday, is likely to remain in training in 2014, trainer Marty Jones said on Wednesday.

Tiz Flirtatious races for owner and breeder Pamela Ziebarth. Jones said that an assessment of Tiz Flirtatious will be made in the next month before a final decision is made.

“We’ll give her some time and decide whether to give her another year,” he said. “We’ll see where we are. She won’t run again for another five months. We’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she’s good.”

A 5-year-old mare, Tiz Flirtatious has won eight of 14 starts and earned $779,800. She won the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 28 and was sixth, beaten two lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf there on Nov. 2.

In the Matriarch, Tiz Flirtatious was beaten a length by Egg Drop racing as the 9-5 favorite.

Bayakoa field shaping up

Saturday’s $150,000 Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mares has a projected field of nine, including the Washington import Champagneandcaviar.

Trained by Gary Mandella, Champagneandcaviar won the Washington Oaks at Emerald Downs in 2012, but was winless in three stakes at that track earlier this year. She won her first start in Southern California this year with a 57-1 upset in an optional claimer over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 11.

Champagneandcaviar was entered for a $40,000 claiming price in that race.

“She’s a stakes winner, so if she can run third or better it will help her value,” Mandella said, referring to the Grade 2 Bayakoa. “She’s trained better since her last race. If she had trained that well going into that race, I wouldn’t have run her for a tag.”

The Bayakoa is run over 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic main track. The other expected starters are stakes winners Broken Sword, Charm the Maker, Curvy Cat, Customer Base, Fiftyshadesofhay, and Warren’s Veneda as well as Magic Union and Spellbound.

Chantal Sutherland-Kruse rides Champagneandcaviar, who races for Fleur De Lis Stable.

“She’ll have to improve,” Mandella said. “We’re all in the race for the same reason. There is no one to chase us away.”

Maldonado suspension upheld

Jockey Edwin Maldonado is serving a three-day suspension through Saturday, having lost an appeal of a suspension issued at Del Mar in August for his ride on Distinctiv Passion in the Green Flash Handicap.

Distinctiv Passion finished first in the Green Flash for turf sprinters, but was disqualified and placed third for causing interference in deep stretch. Maldonado’s suspension began on Thursday.