by Jarrod Horak

Bayakoa, one of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred racing champions of the 20th century, was a two-time Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Eclipse award winning mare in 1989 and 1990. The South American wonder woman was trained by Ron McAnally, and the Hall of Fame miss left us in 1997 due to complications from laminitis.

The Grade 2 Bayakoa Handicap, named in her honor, has attracted a solid field of seven fillies and mares traveling a mile and a sixteenth over Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track.

The three Grade 1 winners (Sugar Shake, Romance Is Diane, Tough Tiz’s Sis) figure to take the bulk of the wagering action, and the latter two are graded winners at this course/distance.

Sugar Shake has won three graded conventional dirt races for Robert Frankel this year, and after tailing off in the middle of her campaign, she got back on the beam at the Big A last time. She is 2-2 at this distance and should make her presence felt throughout, but her lone synthetic (Polytrack) start resulted in a flat 4th place finish.

Romance Is Diane exits a smashing Cal Cup victory, and that stellar effort ended a five-race skid dating back to February. Mike Mitchell is doing everything right at the current stand, and his sharp three-year-old filly is ready to tackle open company again.

Tough Tiz’s Sis is not as sharp as the aforementioned duo following a poor effort in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but that race can be confidently tossed because of the sloppy conditions. Bob Baffert’s talented sophomore has won both of her Cushion Track starts and is 4-4 at this distance. The daughter of Tiznow is tactically drawn outside of her two main rivals, and big money rider Garrett Gomez hops aboard.

The remainder of the field includes entry level turf specialist Lavender Sky, stakes quality turf mare Sohgol, recent overseas shipper Fonce De (FR), and improving Darley filly Grain of Truth (GB). The latter is the most intriguing of the four longshots, but the three favorites seem to have this race surrounded, with Tough Tiz’s Sis seemingly the one to beat.