Kinza became the record seventh Las Virgenes S. (G3) winner for Bob Baffert on Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita when she held off Kopion to win the one-mile race by two lengths.

With just a six-furlong maiden win in late December to her credit before Saturday, Kinza was making both her stakes and two-turn debut. Like she did in her stellar maiden win, Kinza flashed early speed, with Kopion pressing her through a half-mile in :46.91. Kopion got within a length of the leader at the top of the stretch, but Kinza responded and pulled away in the lane to win handily in 1:37.03 on the fast track.

“She acts like a filly that can handle (two turns),” said assistant to Bob Baffert, Jimmy Barnes. “You don’t know until you do it, but she had shown in the morning, in her workouts that she could go further.”

Kinza is owned by Michael Lund Petersen, who teamed up with Baffert to win the previous two runnings of the Las Virgenes with Faiza in 2023 and Adare Manor in 2022.