Tenma kicks off her sophomore campaign with a Las Virgenes win (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif. — Grade I winner Tenma and Vodka With a Twist, runner-up in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, are among the key principals in Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.
Tenma has won 4-of-5 starts including three graded stakes for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Baoma Corp. As a 2-year-old, she won the GI Del Mar Debutante before suffering her only loss in the GII Oak Leaf at Santa Anita in October. Tenma closed out her juvenile campaign with a win in the GII Starlet at Los Alamitos, then came back to score in the GIII Las Virgenes Feb. 2 at Santa Anita in her only start this year.
Tenma, by Nyquist, was an $850,000 auction buy last year. She will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, who was also aboard for both the Starlet and Las Virgenes.
For Vodka With a Twist, this will be her first start since finishing second behind Immersive in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, the Thousand Words filly also finished second in both the GI Del Mar Debutante and GIII Sorrento, both at Del Mar. She is 7: 2-3-1 with $663,320 in earnings.
Trained by Phil D’Amato, Vodka With a Twist has been working steadily since early February at Santa Anita for her comeback. She will be ridden by Antonio Fresu for the first time.
Silent Law also goes for Baffert. This will be her first time racing around two turns. In her only start this year, the seven-furlong Fasig-Tipton Santa Ynez in January at Santa Anita, Silent Law set the pace before fading to third. The winner that day, Look Forward for trainer Michael McCarthy, is also entered in the Santa Anita Oaks.
By Tiz the Law, Silent Law has a record of 4: 2-1-1 with $111,460 in earnings for owner CSLR Racing Partners. Last year, she won the Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita and was second in the Desi Arnaz at Del Mar following a runaway 10-length debut win at Los Alamitos in September. Silent Law will be ridden by Martin Garcia for the first time.
No Bad Beats will be making both her stakes and two-turn debuts for trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Kluger’s Two Dolla Coffee LLC. The major step-up in class comes following a 1 ¾-length allowance win going six furlongs March 1 at Santa Anita. She dueled on the lead that day and kicked clear in mid-stretch to improve to 5: 2-2-0 with $85,800 in earnings.
By Midnight Storm, No Bad Beats was a $45,000 auction buy as a yearling. She will be ridden by Hector Berrios for the first time.
The Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks, which serves as a points-paying prep for this year’s Kentucky Oaks, is part of a blockbuster day of world-class racing and entertainment this Saturday at Santa Anita. Also to be run as part of a 12-race program is the GI Santa Anita Derby, GIII Monrovia Stakes presented by Don Julio, and both the Echo Eddie Stakes and Evening Jewel Stakes for horses bred or sired in California.
THE GII SANTA ANITA OAKS WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 4 of 12 Approximate post time 1:30 p.m. PT
- Look Forward—Mario Gutierrez—124
- Silent Law—Martin Garcia—124
- Vodka With a Twist—Antonio Fresu—124
- Tenma – Juan Hernandez – 124
- No Bad Beats—Hector Berrios—124
- Madame Secretary—Kazushi Kimura—124
First post Saturday is 12 p.m. PT. Admission gates open at 10 a.m.
