Baffert Chasing Record 10th Win in Chandelier

Trainer Bob Baffert will be seeking a record 10th win in the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes (gr. I) when he sends out recent maiden winner Maybellene to battle a promising field of 11 other 2-year-old fillies Sept. 27 at Santa Anita Park.



It will be no easy task for the daughter of the Baffert-trained two-time Eclipse Award winner Lookin At Lucky  . She faces a pair of grade I-placed fillies in Conquest Eclipse and Angela Renee, who ships in from Belmont Park for trainer Todd Pletcher.



The Chandelier, at 1 1/16 miles, is the 10th of 11 races Saturday, the last of five grade I stakes on the program designed as preparation for the Breeders' Cup World Championships Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. The race, which carries an automatic entry into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) for the winning connections, has a scheduled post time of 5 p.m. PDT.



Baffert, 61, will be seeking his third consecutive Chandelier win following Executiveprivilege in 2012 and the ill-fated Secret Compass last year. Most of his victories came when the race was known as the Oak Leaf Stakes, including four in a row from 1997-2000. He and fellow Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas are tied with nine victories apiece.



Maybellene, owned by Baffert's wife Jill, will be facing winners for the first time in the Chandelier and will also be making her initial start on dirt. She has posted three handy works over the Santa Anita main track this month, most recently a five-furlong move Sept. 22 in 1:00 flat.



A $140,000 Keeneland September yearling buy last year, Maybellene won at a mile over the Del Mar Polytrack in her most recent try Aug. 31, which was also her initial race around two turns. Making her third start overall, the bay filly edged Chandelier rival Danette by a head as the 7-5 favorite, getting the lead in the stretch after battling on the front end and holding on gamely.



Rosie Napravnik takes the call from post 6 on Maybellene, replacing Rafael Bejarano, who winds up on Angela Renee.



The well regarded Pletcher-trained filly is the most seasoned stakes competitor in the large field after consecutive graded starts at Saratoga Race Course. Angela Renee caught a sloppy track when made the 8-5 favorite in the seven-furlong Spinaway (gr. I) Aug. 31 and had little impact after being bumped at the start en route to a distant third-place finish.



Prior to that, the Sienna Farm homebred daughter of Bernardini   was a close second as the 19-10 choice in Saratoga's Adirondack (gr. II) Aug. 10. That followed a sharp debut maiden win at Belmont Park in June.



The runner-up in that five-furlong maiden test June 27, Sunday Sonnet, also ships in from the East Coast for trainer Kelly Breen. Owned by George and Lori Hall, the Any Given Saturday   lass enters off a runner-up finish in the listed P.G. Johnson Stakes on the Saratoga turf Aug. 27. Joe Talamo picks up the mount on Sunday Sonnet, who drew the rail.



Conquest Stables' Conquest Eclipse figures to be well-supported following her game third, just one length behind the victorious Sunset Glow, in the Del Mar Debutante Aug. 30. The Mark Casse-trained Malibu Moon   miss broke her maiden at first asking June 29 at Churchill Downs. Like Angela Renee, she'll be making her first bid over a route of ground. Corey Nakatani rides again from post 2.



Sunset Glow, now training at Keeneland for Wesley Ward, is skipping the Chandelier. Others in the field coming out of the Del Mar Debutante are Dad's Princess, who was fourth, and sixth-place finisher Manahatta, one of three entered by Jerry Hollendorfer.



Hollendorfer's other entrants are maiden winners Majestic Presence and Lutine Belle, who drew the outside posts.



W. C. Racing's stalker Sharla Rae heads into the Chandelier with two wins for trainer Doug O'Neill, including a neck victory in the Barretts Debutante at Los Alamitos Race Course Sept. 23. The filly by Afleet Alex   broke her maiden debuting July 13 at Los Alamitos going five furlongs, and she finished fourth in the Sorrento Stakes (gr. II) at Del Mar Aug 6 in her other starts.



O'Neill also entered Reddam Racing's Morning Coffee, a last-out maiden winner Sept. 14 at Los Alamitos.

The Desormeaux brothers, trainer Keith and jockey Kent, will again pair with Danette in her first graded stakes attempt. The Curlin   filly has the most experience in the field with four races but has yet to break her maiden.