Soviet Sojourn Finishes on Top, Lives Up to Odds : Horse racing: After disappointing loss at Hollywood Park, heavily favored filly wins Junior Miss Stakes.

The worst thing about 2-5 odds isn’t the paltry 80-cent payoff on a $2 bet. In fact, bettors aren’t even involved in the downside of such heavy odds.

Trainers and jockeys are.

The real problem with 2-5 odds is living up to them, or so say trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Corey Nakatani. They brought Soviet Sojourn into Friday’s 40th running of the six-furlong Junior Miss Stakes as the heavy favorite.

This time, Soviet Sojourn lived up to the expectations of both the bettors and Baffert and Nakatani. In winning the feature race for two-year-old fillies by four lengths, Soviet Sojourn earned owner Hal Earnhardt $46,000. Baffert’s share will be about 10%.

“I just earned my rent money for my apartment here,” Baffert joked.

But Baffert didn’t allow himself to laugh too freely during his impromptu post-race chat with the media. Though the Junior Miss Stakes gave him some redemption for Soviet Sojourn’s disappointing second-place finish in the July 6 Landaluce Stakes at Hollywood Park, that race still weighed on Baffert.

Soviet Sojourn was the heavy favorite in that one, too. But with Chris McCarron aboard, Soviet Sojourn could not keep pace with Brian Mayberry-trained Fluttery Danseur.

Baffert now insists he underestimated his competition that day and, as a result, under-trained his filly.

His nerves already frazzled on Friday by the pressure of both recent history and the 2-5 odds, Baffert got a second scare at the start of the Junior Miss Stakes.

It happened when another Mayberry-trained entry, Unsaddled, broke early and galloped to the lead (when Fluttery Danseur won the Landaluce Stakes, she went wire-to-wire).

Nakatani, however, would not let Soviet Sojourn stay behind this time.

“I stayed after her,” Nakatani said. “She’s still a little green, and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. You aren’t supposed to get beat at 2-5. You can, it happens. But it isn’t supposed to.”

On the far turn, Soviet Sojourn caught Unsaddled. Coming out of the stretch turn, Soviet Sojourn exploded from the field and relieved Baffert’s tension. There would be no deja vu.

Nonetheless, the Mayberry fillies have implanted their hoof prints in Baffert’s mind. Now if he could only remember which is which.

“I thought Fluttery Danseur . . . no not Fluttery Danseur . . . What’s that other Mayberry horse? Unsaddled. I thought Unsaddled ran a hell of a race,” Baffert said.

Unsaddled, ridden by Martin Pedroza, faded down the stretch and finished fourth in the five-horse race. Wicked Wit, with Eddie Delahoussaye holding the reins, broke poorly but closed well to place second. Spoiled Lady, ridden by Gary Stevens, finished third after slowing in the drive.

As for Soviet Sojourn, well, “She ran like a 5-2 shot,” Baffert said.

Soviet Sojourn now has two firsts, a second and a third in her four starts. But it’s not her past everyone’s talking about. It’s her future.

“I’m planning on running her in the next seven-eighths race for fillies (Sorrento, Aug. 4),” Baffert said. “And then in the Debutante (Aug. 31). Hopefully then we’ll be Breeders’ Cup-bound.”

Baffert also hopes Soviet Sojourn and Fluttery Danseur won’t be taking the same path.

“I just hope they don’t have to meet again for a long time,” he said.

With all the numbers Soviet Sojourn has put up recently, there is one that stands out, at least from Earnhardt’s point of view.

Earnhardt, one of the biggest car dealers in Arizona, paid $14,000 for her.

“It’s nice to see that a guy doesn’t have to spend a lot of money to get a good horse,” Baffert said.