Alienation endears herself as my 4th 2010 tip to win

Alienation overcame lugging in at the top of the stretch and falling five lengths in arrears to nip her front-running rival Pedaltothemedal by a nose and clear her maiden hurdle at first asking Monday at Hollywood Park.

The dark bay or brown daughter of Rock Hard Ten was close to the pace-setter until the turn for home, when she lugged in and slipped behind by five lengths. Straightened up by Martin Garcia and fighting back on the outside in deep-stretch, she overcame Pedaltothemedal, who battled fiercely on the rail under Joe Talamo.

The two fillies covered 5 furlongs on turf in a fleet :56.29.

With the first-out victory, Alienation became the fourth juvenile to win from among my 187 tips out of various 2010 sales of 2-year-olds in training. She earned $24,000 for the race.

Alienation was Hip 719 at OBS April, where she sold for $60,000 to Navigator Stables. The owner of record at Hollywood Park Monday was one Natalie J. Baffert; the trainer Bob Baffert. Whomever they might be. (Just kidding.)

I landed on the filly prior to her sale because she "flew 21-flat through a quarter," her dam, Alienated (Gone West), was a minor stakes winner and half-sister to four other stakes horses, and her third dam was a Canadian champion grass horse. Alienation is from the female family of JUDGE ANGELUCCI (Californian S.-G1), WAR (Blue Grass S.-G1) and PEACE (John Henry S.-G1).

"If this filly earns any blacktype of her own, or if her young dam produces like her female ancestors," I wrote, "this price looks very reasonable down the road. In fact, it already does."

That opinion didn't change on Monday. Pedaltothemedal gave Alienation a run for her money. But Alienation overcame running green, won in racehorse time (especially for a first-out 2-year-old) and, if she comes out of this contest in good shape, has every hope of moving forward.

Also Monday, Sylvia's Tempo, a Posse filly I tipped at the same OBS sale, improved in her second lifetime effort, finishing third beaten just two lengths (and only a neck for second) in a sloppy maiden special at Calder. From two starts, Sylvia's Tempo -- a $49,000 RNA -- has earned $2,970.

To track the performance of all my 2010 picks and pans, click here and scroll down to the sale-by-sale, hip-by-hip roll.