Hollywood Starlet Stakes Top Contenders

by Patricia Woo | Dec 6 2010

The $300,000 Gr. 1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes is shaping up to be an exciting race. Undefeated Turbulent Descent is headlining a field that is also expected to include promising Big Tiz and experienced Tell A Kelly; the 1 1/16 mile race on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Hollywood Park is one of the last grade 1 races of the year.

Mike Puype's Turbulent Descent is ready to take on graded stakes company for the first time and add to her impressive resume of two straight wins at Hollywood Park. A 2-year-old daughter of Congrats, owned by Blinkers on Racing Stable, Turbulent Descent posted an easy victory in the 7-furlong Moccasin Stakes on Nov. 21 following her maiden-breaking win over the same track on Oct. 3. Those two wins have netted her $82,800 in her short career.

Looking to bounce back from a loss in the 1 1/16 mile Sharp Cat Stakes is Big Tiz, a 2-year-old daughter of Tiznow. After three unsuccessful attempts at breaking her maiden – one race on Hollywood Park's turf track and two tries at Del Mar – Big Tiz was finally victorious over Hollywood Park's synthetic track on Oct. 10 at 1 1/16 miles. Those two experiences at 1 1/16 miles will give Big Tiz an edge as she seeks to improve on her 5-1-0-3 record and $47,860 in earnings for trainer Mark Glatt and owner Allen Branch. She posted a recent bullet workout of 6 furlongs in 1:12.60 at Hollywood Park on Nov. 27 in preparation.

One of the most experienced fillies in the field, Tell a Kelly already has a grade 1 victory. On Sept. 4, she captured the Del Mar Debutante Stakes at Del Mar at 7 furlongs and followed that up with a runner-up performance in the Gr. 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Hollywood Park on Oct. 3. Though she won her maiden-breaking race over dirt, her attempt to add a dirt-run grade 1 race to her resume – the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5 – ended in defeat; she came in seventh. This Tapit filly is trained by John Sadler for Ike and Dawn Thrash and will be looking to bolster her career earnings of $221,000 on Saturday.

May Day Rose – the Bob Baffert-trained 2-year-old who won the Sharp Cat Stakes by 4 ¼ lengths, is also among the expected; she has won two races from three starts in 2010 and has earned $100,000.

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