DEL MAR, Calif. – It is widely known 3-year-old fillies have few stakes opportunities on dirt in summer at Del Mar, and they receive even less recognition. It’s unfortunate, because the Grade 3 Torrey Pines on Saturday includes two bright lights in the filly dirt division.
Tenma, a four-time graded stakes winner, and Om N Joy, a three-time California-bred stakes winner, are principals in the Torrey Pines, race 6 on the Pacific Classic card. The stakes is the first leg of the pick six and Del Mar’s only graded stakes on dirt for 3-year-old fillies.
The one-mile Torrey Pines is the perfect comeback spot for the class of the field and an ideal transition for a budding California-bred to get tested for class. Tenma is the class, trying to become the sixth favorite to win the $150,000 Torrey Pines in the last seven years. Om N Joy is the streaking California-bred.
Bob Baffert trains Tenma and fast allowance winner Howin. Aggie Ordonez trains Om N Joy. Those three are the top contenders in the seven-runner Torrey Pines, which also includes Lolo Le Plume, A Thousand Miles, late supplement So There She Was, and Allihies.
Baffert said Tenma lost weight after her fourth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks, which is why she has not raced in four months. Howin also needed time this spring to put on weight. Tenma and Howin are owned by the Baoma Corp. of Charles and Susan Chu, which also owns Pacific Classic program favorite Nysos.
Tenma and Howin “were really light, they’re just getting their weight on,” Baffert said. Howin won a fast allowance early this month, earning an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, highest last-start figure in the Torrey Pines field. Tenma, meanwhile, has not raced in nearly four months. Will she fire first start back?
“She’d better,” Baffert said, implying Tenma will add to a 5-for-7 record that includes wins in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante last summer, Grade 2 Starlet at Los Alamitos last fall, and two graded stakes this year, including the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks.
Tenma and Howin possess more speed and higher figures than Om N Joy, but Om N Joy is at the top of her game. Her most recent start was a runaway in the Fleet Treat for California-bred sprint fillies. According to her trainer, she might be even better Saturday. She will have to be.
“She came out of the Fleet Treat better than she’s come out of any race in her life,” Ordonez said. “She’s a different beast right now. She’s got so much confidence with each of these wins, she thinks she’s King Kong.”
Om N Joy’s California-bred win streak began in spring at Santa Anita. Wins in a maiden, the Evening Jewel, and the Melair were followed by the Fleet Treat at Del Mar. But it’s a big class hike from California-bred competition to graded stakes.
“I don’t take that lightly,” Ordonez said. “But she’s earned the opportunity. She’s doing so well. She’s proven she likes this track, the distance isn’t going to be an issue, and the timing is perfect.”
Kent Desormeaux rides Om N Joy, an Om filly with four wins and $311,140 from 11 starts for owners Connie and Jerry Baker, Michael Golovko, and Terrence Scanlan.
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