By Alan Carasso
. The lesser-preferred half of a Bob Baffert-trained pair, Baoma Corp's Tenma (Nyquist) was shoved across the wire first by jockey Kazushi Kimura to take out Saturday's GI Del Mar Debutante on the penultimate day of the summer meeting at the seaside oval. Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) carried a clear advantage into the final furlong, but was chinned on the wire while finishing a block ahead of longshot So There She Was (Munnings) in third.
The disappointment of the race was 'TDN Rising Star' Nooni (Win Win Win), who was bothered by Vodka With a Twist while appearing to have run her race at the top of the lane before dropping out tamely to be fifth at 4-5. A stewards' inquiry into the incident was launched, but ultimately no action was taken.
Tenma, whose owners won the 2019 Debutante with Bast (Uncle Mo), was beaten for speed, and a strong early pace was set–a bit surprisingly–by Proud Starlet (Mendelssohn), who slipped through underneath Nooni, noticeably rank when taken hold of by Juan Hernandez from between horses after a furlong.
Nooni was felt for a fair bit from home, poking her head in front at the three-eighths, but the move was well and truly covered by Vodka With A Twist, who was breathing right down her neck despite a four-wide passage around the turn. All the while, Tenma was drafting in just behind, and when Nooni began to paddle nearing the stretch, Tenma accelerated sharply from between horses and was produced three wide into the lane. Vodka With A Twist was holding grimly passing the eighth pole, but Tenma–a debut winner by a similarly tight margin Aug. 18–refused to go away and was along in the dying strides.
“I rode her the other day when she won first time our and she did well closing,” said Kimura, winning his first graded stakes at Del Mar. “The plan was to try to do the same thing today. I saw those two fillies up front working on each other and I was happy with my spot. She closed well for me. I think she's going to want to run farther.”
Pedigree Notes:
Breeder Bobby Flay purchased Amagansett, a daughter of SW & MGSP Twirl, for $875,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, and Tenma–a $200,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $850,000 OBS April breezer–is her second foal. The first is the 3-year-old filly Hampton Yard (Uncle Mo), a $450,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by BBN Racing in 2022.
Twirl is a full-sister to 2011 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Misty For Me (Ire), whose six winners from seven to the races include the MG1SW full-siblings U S Navy Flag and Roly Poly–both by War Front–Flay's Grade III winner Cover Song (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Irish listed winner Greenfinch (Justify). Another of Misty For Me's daughters, namely the Group 1 winner Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is the dam of SW Monday (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and GSW Red Riding Hood (Ire) (Justify). This is also the family of champion Fasliyev and the late Menifee.
The unraced Amagansett foaled a colt by Munnings in 2023 which sells through Stone Farm as hip 1069 on day four of Keeneland September next week. Amagansett was not in foal, having been served by Not This Time, when she was purchased by Japanese interests for $400,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale.
Saturday, Del Mar
FANDUEL RACING DEL MAR DEBUTANTE S.-GI, $301,000, Del Mar, 9-7, 2yo, f, 7f, 1:23.67, ft.
1–TENMA, 120, f, 2, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Amagansett, by Tapit
2nd Dam: Twirl (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
3rd Dam: Butterfly Cove, by Storm Cat
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP; $850,000 2yo '24 OBSAPR). O-Baoma Corp; B-B Flay Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Kazushi Kimura. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $225,000. Werk Nick Rating: First stakes winner from this cross. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Vodka With a Twist, 123, f, 2, by Thousand Words
1st Dam: Bourbon and a Kiss, by Sky Mesa
2nd Dam: French Dip, by Speightstown
3rd Dam: Mayo On the Side, by French Deputy
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($2,500 Ylg '23 FTKOCT; $90,000 RNA 2yo '24 KEEAPR). O-Medallion Racing, Omar Aldabbagh and William Strauss; B-Pillar Property Services Inc (KY); T-Philip D'Amato. $60,000.
3–So There She Was, 120, f, 2, by Munnings
1st Dam: Risk Premium, by Take Charge Indy
2nd Dam: Little Swoon, by You and I
3rd Dam: Littlesuruki, by Swoon
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($145,000 Wlg '22 KEENOV; $15,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP; $100,000 2yo '24 OBSMAR). O-Great Friends Stables, LLC and Mark Davis; B-Grantley Acres (KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $36,000.
Margins: NO, 9, NO. Odds: 3.00, 5.10, 30.30.
Also Ran: Jack's Magic Girl, Nooni, Proud Starlet, Night Beacon.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
TENMA ($8.00) got her nose down in front of a very game Vodka With A Twist to win the $300,000 @FanDuel_Racing Del Mar Debutante (G1). @kazushi0096 was on board the 2-year-old daughter of Nyquist (@DarleyAmerica) for trainer @BobBaffert.
Play the next: https://t.co/GuH0Dxglix pic.twitter.com/H6hZGpbIfJ
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) September 7, 2024
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