In successful his eighth consecutive Starlet Stakes (G2) and eleventh total, coach Bob Baffert can also be giving house owners Charlie and Susan Chu a really spectacular streak. Tenma turned the fourth filly owned by the Chus’ Baoma to take the Los Alamitos Race Course race, following Bast in 2019, Varda in 2020, and Eda in 2021.
Regardless of Baffert’s dominance within the Starlet, none of his three entrants went off favored within the 1 1/16-mile, $201,000 race. As a substitute, bettors favored stakes-winning Vodka With a Twist , most just lately second within the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) for coach Phil D’Amato, at simply over 8-5. Tenma was the 5-2 second selection, with Baffert trainees Nooni 7-2 and Mawu 16-1.
Juan Hernandez was piloting Tenma for the primary time. He despatched her to the entrance, the place the race shortly become a duel between Tenma and Look Ahead , a filly making simply her second begin. Although the opposite 5 fillies shuffled forwards and backwards to get place, none might problem the main pair.
Tenma was accountable for the primary two fractions of :23.41 and :48.25. As they rounded the second flip, the battle intensified. Tenma and Look Ahead duked it out head and head, pulling away from the others, first by two lengths, then by seven, and finally by 9 lengths.
Although Look Ahead by no means stop, Tenma’s expertise prevailed. She put away the gutsy Look Ahead within the ultimate sixteenth to attain by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:44.16. Vodka With a Twist, racing in third by many of the journey, ended up a flat and well-beaten third on the wire, adopted by Mawu, Nooni, Sensible Dream , and Aunt Mo .
“I labored her earlier than her first race after which once more final week and she or he went actually good,” mentioned Hernandez of Tenma. “With the blinkers off she relaxed completely and was actually having fun with herself on the market.”
Second-place Look Ahead is now skilled by Michael McCarthy, who took over from his buddy and mentor Ben Cecil. Cecil died Nov. 29, and Look Ahead was his final winner, the filly having gained Nov. 8 at Del Mar in her debut.
The Starlet is a part of the Highway to the Kentucky Oaks, and Tenma earned 10 qualifying factors with the victory. Additionally incomes factors have been Look Ahead (5), Vodka With a Twist (three), Mawu (two), and Nooni (one).
Baffert and his crew bought Tenma for the Chus for $850,000 on the Ocala Breeders’ Gross sales April Sale of 2-12 months-Olds in Coaching from consignor Wavertree Stables. The filly was pinhooked out of the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the place Stone Farm offered her for $200,000 to All Star Bloodstock.
The successful connections of Tenma within the trophy presentation for the Starlet Stakes
Tenma debuted at Del Mar in the summertime, successful a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race Aug. 18 by a neck. Baffert jumped her into the Sept. 7 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), and she or he got here by like a professional, successful by a nostril over Vodka With a Twist. Tenma has misplaced solely as soon as, when she completed third within the Oct. 5 Oak Leaf Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park after brushing the gate in the beginning.
“It is nice to win the Starlet once more,” mentioned Baffert. “She had been coaching very well. She took a step again after Del Mar, in order that’s why we determined to go the Breeders’ Cup. She was again to her previous self, and I assumed she would carry her A recreation at this time.”
Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds bred Tenma in Kentucky from the Tapit mare Amagansett , an $875,000 Keeneland yearling bought by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds in 2018. Amagansett by no means raced, Tenma is her first foal to race, and the mare offered for $400,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s The November Sale in 2023 to Kimura Hidenori.
Tenma, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Immersive , Randomized , Johannes , Encino , and Nysos are 2024 graded winners sired by Nyquist . The stallion will stand for a 2025 stud charge of $175,000 at Darley close to Lexington.
