HOLLYWOOD PARK : Bayakoa Heavy Favorite in Milady

Even if Bayakoa wasn’t at her best, it’s highly unlikely that Felidia, Fantastic Look or Kelly--her three opponents in today’s $157,200 Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park--could give her a scare.

According to trainer Ron McAnally, the 1989 Eclipse Award winner couldn’t be any better.

“She’s doing great,” he said Friday. “She’s about as good as I’ve seen her in the last couple of years. She went very nicely in that seven-eighths work (in 1:23 4/5 last Sunday). (Her rider) never had to use the stick on her, and she galloped out the mile in 1:37 3/5. She’s doing super.”

After a two-race losing streak--almost unheard of for her--Bayakoa won the Hawthorne Handicap May 19, and will be trying for the same Hawthorne-Milady-Vanity triple she completed last year.

The 6-year-old Consultant’s Bid mare figures to be 1-9 in the 1 1/16-mile Milady, the same odds that Sunday Silence had while winning the Californian 13 days ago.

Bayakoa will pick up two pounds from her Hawthorne victory, meaning she will carry 127 for the third time in her career. She won the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita by six lengths under that impost earlier this year, but was last with that weight in the Chula Vista Handicap last year at Del Mar.

“The weight doesn’t bother me against the fillies she’s running with,” McAnally said. “But the next time she runs against Gorgeous, they should be pretty close.

“Gorgeous beat her convincingly in Arkansas (in the Apple Blossom), and Gorgeous is a nice filly. I think the weights should be pretty close to even the next time they meet.”

Going for her 18th victory in her 32nd start, Bayakoa will be spotting her three rivals from 14 to 17 pounds.

Fantastic Look, a distant third in the Hawthorne, is next with 113 pounds, and Kelly, who probably will be last early but sometimes closes well, will carry 110.

Felidia, with 112, will be making her stakes debut in the Milady and only her third start on the dirt. Bred in Ireland, the 5-year-old Golden Fleece mare came to the United States after winning one of seven outings in Europe. She wasn’t any more successful locally on the turf--her only victory came in a Del Mar allowance race--before trainer Bobby Frankel decided to give her a try on the dirt.

Felidia ran second, finishing four lengths behind Fantastic Look, Feb. 12 at Santa Anita.

“We’d breezed her on the dirt when she first came here, and she went well,” Frankel said. “So, we finally tried her. When she came back, Gary (Stevens) said she was tired.”

Frankel thought this was strange because all signs had suggested that she was fit. It was then discovered that Felidia had an entrapped epiglottis (a breathing disorder) and she underwent surgery. In her return, she was impressive, winning by nearly two lengths over allowance horses in 1:21 4/5 for seven furlongs.

“It’s hard to find a race for her, and if she places in a Grade I, it could increase her value as a broodmare because she’s from a good family.” Frankel said. “Plus, you have to beat two horses for $30,000 (second money in the Milady). If she finishes second, I’ll be happy.”

One winner behind Hector Palma in the trainer standings at the meeting, Frankel will be expecting a bit more from Pay the Butler, the possible favorite in the $400,000 Golden Gate Handicap today at Golden Gate Fields in Albany. The race will be simulcast locally between Hollywood’s fifth and sixth races.

Best known for his victory in the 1988 Japan Cup, Pay the Butler won nearly $509,000 last year without winning a race.

After upsetting the well-regarded French Stress in his 1990 debut, the 6-year-old Val de l’Orne horse last ran in the Hollywood Turf Handicap over a course that had been softened by overnight rain.

“He trained real well going into that race, but every time he took a step, the grass wouldn’t stay in place,” Frankel said. “He’s never run good when it’s soft. It was soft at Arlington Park (for last year’s Arlington Million), and he ran terrible (beaten by more than 22 lengths).

“They say the course has been hard (at Golden Gate) and the weather’s been good.”

Frankel will also saddle Hello Calder, who has finished fifth in his two American starts. “I ran him one time this year, and the distance maybe was a little short for him. I think he’ll run well at a mile and three-eighths.”

Eddie Delahoussaye will ride Pay the Butler; Robbie Davis has the call on Hello Calder, and five other jockeys based at Hollywood Park also have mounts in the Grade II stake--Pat Valenzuela, on Pleasant Variety; Julio Garcia, on Nediym; Gary Stevens, on Valdali; Corey Black, on Petite Ile, and Dave Patton, on Capel Meister.

The field also includes Brown Bess, who was beaten by Petite Ile and Double Wedge in her most recent start, last month’s Yerba Buena Handicap; Marksmanship; Delegant, and Royal Reach.

Peace, idle since finishing ninth in a 10-horse field in the Col. F.W. Koester Handicap last October at Santa Anita, will seek his sixth victory without a loss on the Hollywood Park turf course in the $110,800 Inglewood Handicap Sunday.

The 5-year-old son of Naskra has been training well for Charlie Whittingham, who will also send out Shining Steel in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Peace, to be ridden by Alex Solis, will try to add the Inglewood to his victories in the Cinema, Premiere and John Henry on the Hollywood grass.

Steinlen, who was beaten by Peace in both the Premiere and John Henry last year before going on to win an Eclipse Award, won’t be among his opponents this time. Trainer Wayne Lukas has decided to skip the race with the Hollywood Turf Handicap winner and await the more lucrative American Handicap on July 4.

The field also includes John Henry runner-up Classic Fame, Just As Lucky, Preston, Mohamed Abdu, Miswaki Tern and Silent Prince II.

Horse Racing Notes

For the record: Wally Dunn called the Hollywood Park press box to say he’s very much alive. A story on Bill Spawr in Friday’s editions had called him the late Wally Dunn. The former trainer, whose best-remembered horse was Colorado King, is living in retirement in Arcadia. . . . Criminal Type, preparing for his showdown with Sunday Silence in next Sunday’s Hollywood Gold Cup, worked six furlongs in 1:12 4/5. Ruhlmann, another Gold Cup contestant, worked a mile in 1:36 4/5. . . . Pat Valenzuela, who will begin a five-day suspension today but who can ride in the Golden Gate Handicap because it is a designated race, had three winners Friday to increase his lead in the Hollywood jockey standings. He won with maidens Rare Sassafras and Isolated, then went wire to wire aboard T.V. of Crystal in the $60,000 feature. He has 42 winners, nine more than Julio Garcia. . . . Owner Bruce McNall of the Kings was elected to Hollywood Park’s Board of Directors Friday.