Trainer Peter Eurton stood outside the stall of Weemissfrankie in Barn 52 North at Hollywood Park Sunday morning and pronounced the 2-year-old filly ready for the $250,000-guaranteed Hollywood Starlet Saturday. The Grade I will be run at 1 1/16 miles on Cushion Track.
The chestnut filly stood quietly as acupuncturist Bob Banever treated her back while veteran assistant and groom Lupe Perez held her. A goat named Pickles, her traveling companion, stood outside.
Weemissfrankie, winner of the Grade I Del Mar Debutante and Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita, seeks to become only the second filly to sweep the “triple crown” of 2-year-old filly stakes in Southern California. Excellent Meeting is the only horse to have accomplished that feat (1998).
“I loved the work,” said Eurton of Weemissfrankie’s final drill for the Starlet, five furlongs in 1:00.60 Saturday. “It was just enough. It was not over the top. She did it very easily.
“She didn’t blow at all after the work,” continued Eurton. “I didn’t want to overdo it with the race a week away. She looks good this morning.”
Eurton said the filly’s maturity is one of her assets. “She acts older than her age,” he said. “She’s pretty low-key, not overly spirited, very quiet. She may buck a little when you put a rider up.”
Eurton said that Weemissfrankie would gallop up to the race and be ridden again by Rafael Bejarano, seeking his third Starlet win in five years.
Weemissfrankie, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in her last start, has won three of four outings and earned $535,800. The New York-bred daughter of Sunriver is owned by a partnership that named her in memory of long-time owner Frank Alesia, who died in February.
Other probable starters include Sharp Cat Stakes winner Charm the Maker (Garrett Gomez), Landaluce Stakes winner Killer Graces (Joe Talamo), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies fourth-place finisher Self Preservation (Joel Rosario), Moccasin Stakes winner Made to Love Her and recent maiden winner Milania.
A list of possibles is headed by Lady Pecan, Evelyn’s Joy and Rowdy Gal.