Composure Favored in Starlet

If Composure doesn’t win the $200,000 Hollywood Starlet today, it would be one of the biggest surprises of the year.

A game second to the unbeaten Storm Flag Flying in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies while beating the rest of the field by almost 10 lengths at Arlington Park on Oct. 26, the daughter of Touch Gold is facing no such monsters in the 1 1/16-mile Starlet.

Owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, Composure will be heavily favored to give trainer Bob Baffert his third win in the Grade I in the last five years. Baffert won with Excellent Meeting in 1998 and with Habibti last year.

Last in her sprint debut at Del Mar on July 28 when part of an entry that was 3-5, Composure has not finished worse than second in four subsequent races. One of her two victories came by three lengths in the Oak Leaf, Oak Tree’s biggest race for 2-year-old fillies.

In other graded stakes on today’s card, Grey Memo will try for his fifth lifetime win at Hollywood Park against seven other older horses in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at 1 1/8 miles.

Owned by a partnership and trained by Warren Stute, Grey Memo, a 5-year-old son of Memo, has won eight of 41 and earned nearly $1.36 million.

Race of the day: Xtra Heat will make her first start for new owners David Plummer and Tony Ferguson and go after her 25th win in 33 races in the $75,000 Garland of Roses Handicap at Aqueduct.

Who’s hot: Mark Glatt. The trainer won with five of his first 12 starters at Golden Gate Fields.

Who’s not: Gene Embry. The Illinois-based trainer is 0 for 42 this year.

Exotically speaking: A pick three using Exclusiveandcatty and Dynamistic in the sixth, singling Thunder’s Echo in the seventh and Thermostatic, Sotogrande and Arms Control in the eighth.

Winners: Previous day/meet total: 1/69. Money: Previous day/meet total: $3.80/$400.20. Total money bet: $474.