It was a case of deja vu. John Robb-trained Costa Linda registered a dominating performance in Maryland's first 2-year-old race of the year, winning by seven and three-quarter lengths on Friday, May 1, at Laurel Park.

The filly is also the first Maryland-bred 2-year-old to win in 2026. Last year Robb sent out Maryland-bred Romeo(for Joe Lloyd's Lucky 7 Stables) to a dominating win in Maryland's first juvenile race of the season.

Bumped at the start and off last in the field of five, Costa Linda recovered quickly and set every fraction in the four and a half-furlong maiden special weight.

Emotions were running high as the daughter of Frosted is a homebred for Costa Linda first Maryland-bred juvenile winner of 2026 John and Gina Robb's No Guts No Glory Farm, but more importantly, she's the second foal out of their fan-favorite homebred Anna's Bandit.

Costa Linda was ridden by Xavier Perez, who counts Anna's Bandit his favorite runner. And he has high praise for the filly. "Doing what she just did first-time out after getting pummeled out of the gate, that shows you how royally bred she is," he told the media after the race.

"I think if she stays sound, we're going to have fun." Perez added: "Just like mama. She gallops the same way; she does the same routine. We go to the gap [in the morning], and she stands there for 15 or 20 minutes. She goes about her business, and she just goes around this track like she owns the place."

Costa Lina is a half-sister to thestakes-placed Tartabull, a winning son of Tapit who finished third in last December's Maryland Juvenile Stakes at Laurel and was fourth in his most recent start in Turfway Park's Rushaway Stakes in March (just missing the show spot).

A daughter of Great Notion, Anna's Bandit won 17 of 39 starts, ranked first in the nation by number of wins in 2019 (nine of 11 starts), won 11 stakes and earned $806,655. She has a Kentucky-bred Tapit yearling colt and delivered a Maryland-bred filly on Feb. 3 by Hall of Famer and 2026 Kentucky Derby-winning sire Curlin.