The wet track Saturday at Los Alamitos was labelled “good,” and the fields for the graded stakes were small. But the results were the same as most every year, as Bob Baffert continued his dominance of 2-year-old racing in Southern California.

Thousand Words defeated three rivals to give Baffert his sixth straight victory in the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity, and his 12th overall; Bast defeated four rivals to give Baffert his third straight victory the G1 Starlet, and sixth overall.

Thousand Words earned a 91 Beyer for his fast-early, slow-late win in the mile and a sixteenth Futurity. He pressed a hot pace (:45.87) set by stablemate High Velocity, and held off Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Anneau d’Or to win by a neck in 1:43.19.

Thousand Words is now two-for-two. His challenge for 2020 is learning to ration his speed. Sired by Pioneerof the Nile, Thousand Words was produced by graded stakes-winning sprinter Pomeroys Pistol. As for runner-up Anneau d'Or, he had dead aim and a full head of steam in the stretch, but could not get past the winner. Anneau d'Or also earned a 91 Beyer, five points higher than his BC Juvenile, so you could say his effort validated BC Juvenile winner Storm the Court.

Bast earned a career-high 89 Beyer for her slow-pace front-running victory over BC Juvenile Fillies runner-up Donna Veloce in the Starlet. Bast cruised the opening half in :47.22, and won by a half-length in 1:43.36. Bast was the first filly since Excellent Meeting in 1998 to win the three major stakes for juvenile fillies in California (not counting Breeders' Cup). Bast, third in the Breeders' Cup, also won the Del Mar Debutante and Chandelier.

As for runner-up Donna Veloce, it turns out expectations were too high for the 3-10 favorite. Her Beyer Figure jumped 10 points from the Breeders' Cup. Donna Veloce also earned an 89. But she was unable to get past winner Bast.