Muhimma stays unbeaten in Demoiselle; Tenma prevails in Starlet

Dec 07, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Muhimma wins the Demoiselle S. at Aqueduct.

Muhimma wins the Demoiselle S. at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coglianese Photo / Credit to Susie Raisher)

Shadwell Stable’s Muhimma jumped onto the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s $250,000 Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct. Later at Los Alamitos, Baoma Corp.’s Tenma advanced on the Oaks leaderboard by capturing the $201,000 Starlet (G2).

Demoiselle (G2)

Trainer Brad Cox already has two leaders on the Oaks trail in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Immersive, the presumptive divisional champion, and recent Golden Rod (G2) romper Good Cheer. Now Muhimma ranks as yet another unbeaten Oaks contender for the Cox barn after her convincing stakes and two-turn debut in the Demoiselle.

Bet down to 2-5 favoritism off a pair of dominating wins in sprints at Churchill Downs, Muhimma was stretching out to a more demanding distance of 1 1/8 miles. But the gray aced her stamina test in a final time of 1:49.84, faster than the preceding Remsen (G2), a scoring race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, won by the closing Poster in 1:50.37.

Muhimma went straight to the lead from her rail post, and regular rider Florent Geroux rationed out her speed in fractions of :23.94, :48.24, and 1:12.55. Even her pace was ahead of the Remsen, where the comparable six-furlong split was 1:13.32.

As Muhimma pulled away from her early attendant, Liam in the Dust, a fresh challenger emerged in the form of Ballerino d’Oro. At the rear in the opening stages, Ballerino d’Oro made an athletic move on the far turn to reach contention. The 9-1 shot stayed on determinedly down the stretch, but Muhimma kept finding plenty to hold her off by a length.

Muhimma banked 10 Oaks points. Fellow gray Ballerina d’Oro, hitherto a turf performer, opened her account with five points in a fine dirt debut.

There was a 6 3/4-length gap back to third-placer Liam in the Dust, who added three points for a total of eight. Next came Five a Side in fourth (two points) and Carmen’s Candy Jar (one point), followed by Beauty Reigns, Bless the Broken, Tip Line, Fortuna Mia, and Michelle.

Now a perfect 3-for-3, Muhimma has earned $279,460. She crushed her first two starts by combined margin of 13 lengths beneath the Twin Spires, a Sept. 20 maiden and a Nov. 1 allowance.

Muhimma, bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm, sold for $700,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. Interestingly, her pedigree features the exact same cross as Remsen winner Poster. Both are by Munnings and out of blueblood mares by Tapit.

Muhimma’s dam (mother), Princesa Carolina, was a classy turf runner. She scored her signature win in the 2018 Dueling Grounds Oaks in course-record time at Kentucky Downs, and her five stakes placings include the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland.

Princesa Carolina is herself a daughter of the versatile Pure Clan, the third-placer in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (G1) who went on to become a multiple Grade 1 star on turf. An earner of nearly $2 million, Pure Clan also turned the 2007 Pocahontas (G3)/Golden Rod double as a juvenile at Churchill, and she concluded her career with a runner-up effort in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1).

Starlet (G2)

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert won his eighth straight edition of the Starlet, and 11th overall, when Tenma outlasted a stubborn Look Forward and pulled clear late. Vodka with a Twist, the 17-10 favorite, retreated to a distant third.

Tenma, whose prior stakes victory came in the Sept. 7 Del Mar Debutante (G1), was subsequently beaten 10 lengths when third in the Oct. 5 Oak Leaf (G2) at Santa Anita. She had tried blinkers for the first time that day, but removed them here, and promptly regained top form.

Sent off as the 5-2 second choice, Tenma adopted forward tactics with new rider Juan Hernandez. She and Look Forward virtually matched strides through fractions of :23.41, :48.25, and 1:13.56. By that point, the duelists left the rest behind and grappled down the long Los Alamitos stretch.

Look Forward, the last winner trained by the late Ben Cecil, was trying her utmost to deliver a most poignant win in her debut for Michael McCarthy. But in the final sixteenth of a mile, Tenma’s stamina won out.

A daughter of 2016 Kentucky Derby (G1) champion Nyquist, Tenma opened up by 1 3/4 lengths while finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.16. The dark bay picked up 10 more Oaks points, upping her total to 13.

Look Forward garnered five points in her stakes debut. A further nine lengths back in third came Vodka with a Twist (three points), who has 18 points in all. Baffert’s other two runners, Mawu and Nooni, rounded out the top five. Fourth-placer Mawu, owned like Tenma by Baoma Corp., earned her first two points. Nooni added one point in fifth for a tally of six overall. Practical Dream and Aunt Mo trailed the strung-out field.

Tenma’s resume now reads 4-3-0-1, $369,000. The $850,000 OBS April juvenile rallied from well off the pace in her first two starts, getting up by narrow margins in an Aug. 18 maiden at Del Mar and the Del Mar Debutante. She tracked in the Oak Leaf before fading, but put it all together in the Starlet.

Bred by celebrity chef Bobby Flay in the name of B. Flay Thoroughbreds, Tenma is out of the Tapit mare Amagansett. This is the immediate family of multiple highweight Misty for Me, a four-time Group 1 winner and herself the dam of multiple Group 1 scorers U S Navy Flag and Roly Poly.

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