How to bet the Las Virgenes Stakes

A compact field of five three-year-old fillies will vie in Sunday’s $100,000 Las Virgenes S. (G3) at Santa Anita. Conditioner Bob Baffert has a pair of sophomores entered for the affair and the race will likely go through the duo. Grade 1 heroine #4 Tenma is a once-beaten daughter of Nyquist who concluded her very good juvenile season with a game score in the Starlet S. (G2) at Los Alamitos in December. She looms large in the affair. 

Las Virgenes Wagers

• $12 exacta 4 with 3,5 ($24)
• $3 trifecta box 3,4,5 ($18)

Tenma, who was purchased for a cool $850,000 in April, was a rallying debut winner at Del Mar in the summer and followed that first-out score with a late-running tally in the Del Mar Debutante S. (G1) on the same course. The dark bay daughter of Nyquist was a non-factor in the Oak Leaf S. (G2) at Santa Anita in her route bow, but the Kentucky-bred rebounded from that performance with a fine run last time out when earning a 106 Brisnet Late Pace figure while running 1 1/16 miles. She is proven at two turns and is the class of the cast with Juan Hernandez in the silks. 

Baffert’s #5 Cipriani overwhelmed a small field in a sprint on this oval on debut while going off at 3-10 odds, and while her Speed number was just average, the daughter of Bernardini surely looked the part from a visual standpoint. The $875,000 OBS March purchase has posted 11 well-timed morning drills in preparation for her initial stakes attempt, and I am expecting the lass to fire a big shot on Sunday. This Kentucky-bred will be forwardly placed on the stretch out in distance with Martin Garcia taking the reins for the first time. 

I’m not sure what #3 Our Moonlight defeated in her smart debut tally on the oval on December 27, but the daughter of Tapit gave a nice impression of herself during the smart victory. Trained by Dean Pedersen, the $325,000 yearling buy closed with good energy despite having a less-than-ideal voyage in the six-furlong heat, and her pedigree suggests that going long will be a benefit to her, as well. The Kentucky-bred gray would not be a big surprise to me with expected improvement off of her first appearance with Tiago Pereira retaining the mount.