Dual grade I winner Weemissfrankie, third in the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) one month ago, will start in the $250,000 Hollywood Starlet (gr. I) Dec. 10, trainer Peter Eurton said Dec. 4.
Preparing for the 1 1/16-mile event for 2-year-old fillies, Wemissfrankie posted a five-furlong drill in 1:00 3/5 Dec. 3 on the Cushion Track at Hollywood Park. It was the 10th fastest of 30 at the distance.
“I loved the work,” said Eurton. “It was just enough. It was not over the top. She did it very easily.
“She didn’t blow at all after the work,” continued Eurton. “I didn’t want to overdo it with the race a week away. She looks good this morning.”
Weemissfrankie, winner of the Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) and Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita, seeks to become only the second filly to sweep the “triple crown” of 2-year-old filly stakes in Southern California. Excellent Meeting, in 1998, is the only horse to have accomplished that feat.
Eurton said the filly’s maturity is one of her assets. “She acts older than her age,” he said. “She’s pretty low-key, not overly spirited, very quiet. She may buck a little when you put a rider up.”
Eurton said that Weemissfrankie would gallop up to the race and be ridden again by Rafael Bejarano, seeking his third Starlet win in five years.
Weemissfrankie has won three of four starts and earned $535,800. The New York-bred daughter of Sunriver is owned by a partnership that named her in memory of long-time owner Frank Alesia, who died in February.
Other probable starters include Sharp Cat Stakes winner Charm the Maker (Garrett Gomez), Landaluce Stakes winner Killer Graces (Joe Talamo), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies fourth-place finisher Self Preservation (Joel Rosario), Moccasin Stakes winner Made to Love Her, and recent maiden winner Milania.
Weemissfrankie
Benoit Photography