Hollywood Park notes: Inglorious returns from layoff in Bayakoa Stakes

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – An affinity for synthetic tracks has led the millionaire Canadian filly Inglorious to Southern California for Saturday’s $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Inglorious, best known for beating males in the Queen’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in June 2011, has not started since July, having emerged from a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes “a little jarred up,” trainer Josie Carroll said.

The Grade 2 Bayakoa Stakes is considered a suitable launch to a light winter campaign expected to continue in Florida or Louisiana, Carroll said.

“She’s actually great,” Carroll said Tuesday morning. “I freshened her up and I was looking for a race on a synthetic track.”

Any concern about how Inglorious would handle Hollywood Park’s synthetic track ended when the filly breezed five furlongs in 1:04.80 last Saturday.

“She worked well over it,” Carroll said.

A winner of 5 of 12 starts and $1,378,751 for Donver Stable, Inglorious has the highest career earnings of the six probable starters in the Bayakoa, which is run over 1 1/16 miles. Aside from the Queen’s Plate, Inglorious won two stakes as a 2-year-old at Woodbine in 2010 and two stakes for fillies in early 2011, including the Woodbine Oaks.

She has yet to win outside of Woodbine Racetrack, but was second in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course in February 2011.

In the Bayakoa, Inglorious may go favored against Charm the Maker, Class Included, Lady of Fifty, Open Water, and Willa B Awesome. Class Included has won eight stakes at Emerald Downs and Hastings Park in her career, but was seventh as a 38-1 outsider in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 2.

The Bayakoa is one of two lucrative stakes on Saturday’s program and is arguably a better betting race than the $500,000 Hollywood Starlet for 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles.

Executiveprivilege, winner of two Grade 1 stakes earlier this year – the Del Mar Racetrack Debutante and Chandelier Stakes – will be heavily favored in her first start since a second to Beholder in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Executiveprivilege is part of a field of five expected to include Blonde Fog, Midnight Ballet, Renee’s Titan, and Scarlet Strike.

Sweet Marini will miss stakes

Sweet Marini, the impressive winner of a maiden race in her debut at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, was recently purchased privately by Kaleem Shah and transferred to trainer Bob Baffert.

Tuesday, Baffert said that Sweet Marini will miss an expected start in Sunday’s $200,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies because of the presence of mucous.

“She was coughing, and I had to treat her with antibiotics,” he said.

“She’s not going to run on Sunday. Hopefully, we can make the next race.”

The newly created Soviet Problem Stakes over seven furlongs is part of the Golden State Series of stakes for California-breds of all ages launched earlier this year. The series emphasizes stakes for 2- and 3-year-olds.

In January, the series will continue at Santa Anita Park with $300,000 divisions of the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile, with an open division and one for fillies. Baffert is hoping to start Sweet Marini in the fillies division.

Sweet Marini was bred and raced by B.M.W.Z Stable and trained by Jorge Gutierrez for her debut.

Without Sweet Marini, Home Journey, unbeaten in two starts, is the expected favorite in the Soviet Problem Stakes. Trained by Mike Puype, Home Journey will make her stakes debut Sunday.