Bayakoa Is Won by Starrer Again

Hollywood Park can’t run the Bayakoa Stakes too often for Starrer, a 4-year-old filly who won the race for the second time Sunday.

In between, Starrer was blanked in five starts, three of them won by Azeri, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner and horse-of-the-year favorite.

“I’ve seen enough of Azeri,” said John Shirreffs, who began training Starrer this year after David Hofmans had saddled her for the Bayakoa win last year. Shirreffs’ Manistique is the only other horse to win the Bayakoa in consecutive years.

In an 18-race career, Starrer has won only twice besides her double in the Bayakoa. The other wins came last year, in the Santa Paula at Santa Anita and the Princess at Hollywood. Jockey Jerry Bailey won with Starrer in last year’s Bayakoa; Pat Valenzuela, who has ridden owner George Krikorian’s filly the last three races, was aboard Sunday, and needed a hole to open up on the turn for home in order to move up from fifth place in a field of six.

“I was just picking my spots,” Valenzuela said. “When I asked her at the head of the lane, she accelerated. If I had to come around, I could have done that. But I waited for the hole and took the shortcut home.”

Running 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 3/5 -- compared to 1:42 2/5 a year ago, and the fastest Bayakoa since Golden Klair set the stakes record with 1:41 3/5 in 1993 --Starrer paid $4 as the favorite. She carried high weight of 118 pounds and earned $90,000.

Cee’s Elegance finished second, a length in front of Angel Gift.

-- Bill Christine

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Using a powerful late surge to collar pacesetter Sterling Sport, Sign Of Lanty won the Marathon National for an unprecedented fourth time in a row at Los Alamitos.

The 8-year-old California-bred, arguably the greatest runner at 870 yards in quarter-horse history, was ridden by Alex Bautista and the win in the Grade I -- which had its purse increased to $200,000 this year, making it the richest race run at the distance -- pushed his career earnings to over $500,000. Sign Of Lanty has won 28 of 65 races.

-- Bob Mieszerski