Vodka with a Twist aims for graded breakthrough in Starlet
Dec 06, 2024
Tenma (left) and Vodka with a Twist fought out the finish of the Del Mar Debutante (Photo by Benoit Photos)
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) runner-up Vodka with a Twist will try to end her run of seconditis in Saturday’s $200,000 Starlet (G2) at Los Alamitos. To do so, the Phil D’Amato pupil must end another kind of streak – trainer Bob Baffert’s seven straight wins in this scoring race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Baffert, a 10-time Starlet winner overall, has nearly half of the field in his quest for number 11. His trio comprises Tenma and Nooni, who have faced Vodka with a Twist before, along with Mawu.
Vodka with a Twist, the 5-2 favorite on the morning line, won twice during the spring meet at Churchill Downs. A front-running maiden winner on May 17, she came back to wire the Debutante S. by three lengths. But she’s played second fiddle in her three graded stakes appearances since changing circuits to Southern California. Vodka with a Twist rallied for second to Nooni in the Sorrento (G3) at Del Mar, then just got nabbed by Tenma in the Del Mar Debutante (G1).
It came down to the wire! 😱
TENMA gets the G1 Del Mar Debutante by a head bob with @kazushi0096! 🏇
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) September 8, 2024
Stretching out to this 1 1/16-mile trip for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup, Vodka with a Twist was second-best to presumptive divisional champion Immersive. Now she picks up a new rider, Kyle Frey, on Saturday.
Tenma was last seen placing a distant third in the Oct. 5 Oak Leaf (G2) at Santa Anita, where she sustained her first loss. Stablemate Nooni was runner-up in the Oak Leaf, but that was bookended by a pair of poor efforts, a fifth in the Del Mar Debutante and a sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Nooni’s jockey from the Oak Leaf, Martin Garcia, reunites with her here. Tenma gets a rider switch as well to Juan Hernandez, and both fillies take the blinkers off.
Baffert’s other filly, Mawu, led throughout in her Santa Anita maiden victory over next-out winner Aunt Mo. But Mawu was subsequently third in the Desi Arnaz S. at Del Mar to Practical Dream. Tiago Pereira takes the call aboard Mawu.
Aunt Mo thrived on the step up to a mile and broke her maiden by nine resounding lengths at Santa Anita. Off that evidence, she’ll enjoy the added ground in this stakes debut for Peter Eurton. In contrast, the Tim Yakteen-trained Practical Dream will take a two-turn test here.
Recent Del Mar maiden scorer Look Forward is a poignant runner in her first outing for new trainer Michael McCarthy. The Reddam Racing color-bearer was the final winner trained by the late Ben Cecil, who sadly passed away from cancer Nov. 29.
The Starlet, which offers Oaks points on the 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the top five finishers, is carded as the eighth race at 6:57 p.m. ET. You can watch and wager at TwinSpires.com.
FOLLOW FOR UPDATES AND EXCLUSIVES
Missed something? Catch up on past Kentucky Derby news
