Los Alamitos: How to bet the Starlet Stakes on Dec. 4

Bob Baffert will saddle three of the six contenders in Saturday’s $300,000 Starlet S. (G1) at Los Alamitos as he seeks to equal D. Wayne Lukas's record of eight victories in the race, with two of them looking to be leading chances.

Starlet Wagers

• $30 win #6 Eda ($30)
• $5 trifecta 2, 6 with 2, 6 with 4 ($10)
• $5 exacta box 4, 6 ($10)

#6 Eda has bagged a pair of sprint stakes races in succession and seems poised to make good in her route debut from the outside post. By Munnings, the April foal commanded a hefty $550,000 as a two-year-old in training at OBS March, and she has run big in all but one of her career outings to date.

Eda is bred to handle the distance and has a fine foundation under her as the most experienced contender in the field. In addition, the Kentucky-bred could easily be controlling speed in the race if sent from the break by Juan Hernandez. The bay will be formidable if she clears early on.

Grade 1 heroine #2 Grace Adler is the wildcard in the field for me. Will we see the filly who dominated the Del Mar Debutante (G1) by an eye-popping 11 lengths two back, or will it be the lass who barely lifted her feet when a distant fifth in the Chandelier S. (G2) at Santa Anita last time out? Also trained by Baffert, the daughter of Curlin couldn’t have looked any better in her first two runs at Del Mar, but her clunker last time out raises questions.

Grace Adler is training in positive fashion leading up to Saturday, and it’s a great sign that Flavien Prat chooses to guide this one over her stable mate. The chestnut could easily be the one if she runs something resembling her best race on Saturday.

Surfer Girl S. romper #4 Cairo Memories will make her dirt debut following a trio of strong tries on the green to begin her career. The Cairo Prince filly was only defeated by 2 3/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) in her latest venture, and if she takes to the dirt, then the talented gray will have every chance to run down this cast late with regular rider Kent Desormeaux up for conditioner Bob Hess. She is a filly that I will include in some of my horizontal wagers.