
A pair of scratches reduced Sunday’s $92,000 Las Virgenes (G3) at Santa Anita to a three-horse field, and 1-5 favorite Tenma had no difficulty dominating the one-mile Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifier.
Tenma enjoyed a near-perfect juvenile campaign, with a third in the Oak Leaf (G2) representing her only blemish from four starts. Her three wins included a hard-fought nose triumph in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) and a 1 3/4-length score in the Starlet (G2).
The Las Virgenes marked Tenma’s three-year-old debut and her easiest win to date. With Juan Hernandez in the saddle for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, the daughter of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist vied for command through splits of :23.05 and :47.45, took over through six furlongs in 1:12.56, and pulled away under a hand ride to win by 6 1/2 lengths in 1:38.31.
“She broke beautiful today,” said Hernandez. “This filly is getting really professional. Before she was a little rank sometimes, getting out. But this time she went beautifully. She put herself in a good spot. I was outside and had a good position. I was enjoying my trip, then at the quarter pole she switched leads and kicked off to the wire.”
Tenma’s stablemate Cipriani, a debut winner at Santa Anita last fall, closed to finish second by 17 3/4 lengths over Just as Fancy, who tired after dueling with Tenma. Lolo Le Plume and Our Moonlight were the two scratched fillies.
Winning the Las Virgenes earned Tenma 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. She now boasts 33 points in total, topping the Kentucky Oaks qualification leaderboard. Cipriani earned 10 points for her runner-up finish and ranks 19th, while Just as Fancy secured six points and sits 27th.
“(Tenma) actually has been maturing,” said Baffert. “Her worst race was in the Oak Leaf before the Breeders’ Cup. I didn’t feel like she was mature enough to run in the Breeders’ Cup, but now she has come a long way. Coming into this race she was looking really good. The other filly (Cipriani), she is just really green and just figuring it out. You will see a big improvement out of her.”
Bred by B. Flay Thoroughbreds and owned by Baoma Corp, Tenma has compiled a 5-4-0-1 career record with earnings of $429,000.
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