Faiza gives Baffert record ninth Starlet S. (G1) victory

Faiza held off a very determined Pride of the Nile to win Saturday’s $300,000 Starlet S. (G1) at Los Alamitos by a head to give Bob Baffert his sixth straight win in the race, and record ninth overall.

Baffert won the race three times when it was run at Hollywood Park and started his current streak in the race for 2-year-old fillies in 2017 with Dream Tree.

Faiza, who had a Nov. 12 maiden win in her lone start prior to Saturday, took up a perfect stalking position on the outside in third as the field made its way through a half-mile in :47.87. She came four-wide on the final turn to hit the front with Pride of the Nile. The duo raced very closely the rest of the way, with Faiza getting the better of her foe to finish the 1 1/16-miles in 1:44.49 on a fast track.

“Faiza has always shown she’s a special filly and she had to be special today to win just off one maiden race,” Baffert said. “She’s still green, but I think she has a big future in front of her. I think she’s going to get better with age, but we’ve loved her from the start and she’s by one of the hottest sires going (Girvin) right now.”

Faiza is owned by Michael Lund Petersen and has won $222,000 in her two starts. The bay filly is out of Sweet Pistol, who is a sister to Thousand Words, another Baffert trainee that won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2).