Tenacious Tenma comes out on top in G1 Del Mar Debutante

Filly provides Nyquist with his second G1 winner of the week

Tenma outfought a game Vodka With a Twist in the stretch to take the G1 Del Mar Debutante by a nose on Saturday, 7 September.

The two-year-old daughter of Nyquist became the second G1 winner within a week for her sire, following the success of Immersive in the G1 Spinaway at Saratoga the previous Sunday. 

Tenma was one of two Bob Baffert-trained fillies that went to the post in the seven-furlong Debutante, with most of the attention – and betting money – going to her stablemate, Nooni, who had won the G3 Sorrento Stakes in her previous start. Instead, it was Tenma that took home top honors, after getting her nose down on the wire after a protracted stretch battle with Vodka With a Twist. 

Bred in Kentucky by B. Flay Thoroughbreds, Tenma is out of Amagansett, an unraced daughter of Tapit. Second dam is the Stakes winner, Twirl (Galileo), a full sister to Champions Misty For Me (G1 Irish One Thousand Guineas, etc.) and Ballydoyle (G1 Prix Marcel Boussac). Tenma was purchased by her connections for $850,000 at the 2024 OBS April Two-Year-Old Sale.

Tenma is her sire’s fourth G1 winner this year, joining Randomized (G1 Ogden Phipps), Johannes (G1 Shoemaker Mile) and Immersive on the 2024 honor roll. For his career thus far, Nyquist has sired seven G1 winners including Vequist (Champion, G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, G1 Spinaway), Gretzky the Great (Champion, G1 Summer Stakes), and Slow Down Andy (G1 Awesome Again Stakes).