Photo:

Jon Putman / Eclipse Sportswire

Grade 1 winner Tenma will make her 3-year-old debut Sunday
as the 2-5 program favorite against four rivals in the Grade 3, $100,000 Las Virgenes Stakes going a mile at Santa Anita.

The Las Virgenes, scheduled to start at 3:59 p.m. EST, is
part of Santa Anita’s 3-year-old fillies series leading to the Santa Anita Oaks
(G2) on April 5. It also awards 20-10-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers
toward for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Tenma will be seeking a third graded-stakes
win. Last year the Nyquist filly won the Del Mar Debutante (G1) in September
and ended the year with a front-running victory in the Starlet (G2) going 1
1/16 miles at Los Alamitos on Dec. 7. Starlet runner-up Look Forward came back
to win the listed Santa Ynez going seven furlongs Jan. 5 at Santa Anita.

Tenma has made one previous start at Santa Anita. In the Oak
Leaf (G2) going 1 1/16 miles in October, she finished a disappointing third at
2-1.

“She didn’t run well here in the Oak Leaf, which is why I
didn’t run her in the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said this week. “But she came
back with a nice effort in the Starlet. She seems to be doing well, and we’ll
see what happens.”

Tenma will be ridden by Juan Hernández, who also was aboard
in the Starlet win. Owned by Charles Chu’s Baoma Corp, Tenma will be joined in the Las Virgenes by stablemate
Cipriani. Carrying 8-1 odds on the morning line, Cipriani has not started since
a 6 1/4-length debut win sprinting at Del Mar on Oct. 27.

“She’s still green,” Baffert said. “I didn’t want to run her
in another short race. She wants to go two turns. But she’s a big, immature
filly who will get better with racing.”

Cipriani, a daughter of Bernardini who was sold for $875,000
at auction last year, will have Martín García in the irons.

Just as Fancy (4-1) for trainer Michael McCarthy and Our
Moonlight for trainer Dean Pederson are Baffert duo’s chief rivals.

Just as Fancy earned her diploma with a front-running win
going a mile at Santa Anita on Jan. 3. She had two sprint tries against maidens
before graduating on the stretch-out. The daughter of Volatile, a $285,000
auction buy, has lured the services of 2024 Eclipse Award-winning jockey
Flavien Prat for her stakes debut.

Our Moonlight was a debut winner going six furlongs Dec. 27
at Santa Anita. The daughter of Tapit was bought for $325,000 at the 2023
Keeneland September yearling sale. She will have Tiago Pereira in the irons.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last start	Morn. line
1		Lolo Le Plume Instilled Regard	0.00	Bob Hess Jr. Mario Gutiérrez	3rd, SA MSW (1/3/25-R2)	15-1
Last race		3rd, SA MSW (1/3/25-R2)
2		Just As Fancy Volatile	0.00	Michael McCarthy Flavien Prat	1st, SA MSW (1/3/25-R2)	4-1
Last race		1st, SA MSW (1/3/25-R2)
3		Our Moonlight Tapit	0.00	Dean Pederson Tiago Pereira	1st, SA MSW (12/27/24-R8)	5-1
Last race		1st, SA MSW (12/27/24-R8)
4		Tenma Nyquist	7.34	Bob Baffert Juan Hernández	1st, 2024 Starlet G2	2-5
Last race		1st, 2024 Starlet G2
5		Cipriani Bernardini	4.79	Bob Baffert Martín García	1st, SA MSW (10/27/24-R6)	8-1
Last race		1st, SA MSW (10/27/24-R6)