Tenma secures Kentucky Oaks spot with slow Santa Anita Oaks win
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ARCADIA, Calif. – Tenma, the most accomplished 3-year-old filly in California, won her fourth graded stakes race Saturday at Santa Anita.
That fact is worthy of praise.
But another less-complimentary fact is the final time of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks – 1:46.15 was the slowest for the 1 1/16-mile race in more than 50 years. The racing surface was not that slow, but the Oaks field was slow, including the odds-on winner.
Tenma ($2.60) won the Santa Anita Oaks by two and one-quarter lengths over her Bob Baffert-trained stablemate/pacesetter Silent Law. Vodka With a Twist finished six lengths back in third. Madame Secretary and No Bad Beats fourth and fifth, respectively. The five-runner field was strung out at the finish.
Juan Hernandez rode Tenma (75 Beyer Speed Figure), who was making her first start since she won the three-runner Grade 3 Las Virgenes on Feb. 2. It was a short layoff of two months, and Baffert said he had her ready.
“She was pretty fit, I’m not going to send her in there not prepared,” Baffert said. “She was prepared to win this race.”
Tenma settled third or fourth behind the pace contested by No Bad Beats and Silent Law. The early leader No Bad Beats backed up. Vodka With a Twist, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last fall, went after Silent Law on the far turn, but Tenma loomed close by.
She rallied three wide and wore down Silent Law to win going away. Baffert was happy with the performances of both his fillies. “I like the way [Tenma] settled today,” Baffert said. “She’s becoming more professional.”
But is she getting faster? That is debatable. The career-high 92 Beyer Speed Figure she earned last out was in a race with only three runners. Tenma must run faster than she did in the Santa Anita Oaks to be competitive in the Kentucky Oaks. Baffert said that will be her next start.
“She’s still not at her best yet, she’s getting there,” Baffert said. Tenma, a Nyquist filly owned by Charles and Susan Chu, has won five races and $549,000 from six starts. The win was Baffert’s third straight Santa Anita Oaks and fifth overall.
No Bad Beats set the early pace, Silent Law took over before the field reached the backstretch. Martina Garcia rode Silent Law, who was running long for the first time. “She did good, first time going two turns,” Garcia said. “I got beat by a really good filly, and I did not get beat by far. Next time she’ll be a lot fitter.” Silent Law was making her first start in three months.
Baffert confirmed the Kentucky Oaks was the plan for Tenma. It will be wait and see for Silent Law. “I want to see how she comes out of the race,” Baffert said.
Vodka With a Twist came up short while making her first start in four months for trainer Phil D’Amato. She finished third, eight and one-quarter lengths behind the winner.
“She ran ‘okay,’” D’Amato said. “She broke a little slow, loomed up nice, but she got a little bit more tired than I would have liked to have seen.” Vodka With a Twist has won two of eight, and placed in three Grade 1 races. Plans for her are pending.
With the win by Tenma, favorites have now won the Santa Anita Oaks 10 of 15 times since the track reinstalled dirt.
The main question following the Santa Anita Oaks is whether a mile and a sixteenth in 1:46.15 makes Tenma a contender in the Kentucky Oaks.
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