Tamara ‘s complete domination of the Del Mar Debutante (G1) field Sept. 9 looked eerily familiar. Eight years before, her mother, Hall of Famer Beholder , put on a similar display, albeit against older males, in the Pacific Classic (G1), also at Del Mar. Beholder vanquished her rivals by 8 1/4 lengths that day. Her daughter’s margin was 6 3/4 lengths. Both were breathtaking.
The similarities didn’t end with the huge gap back to the second-place runner. Tamara resembles her dam in looks and dark bay coloring, and she sported the same orange and purple silks of owner Spendthrift Farm. Another member of racing’s Hall of Fame, Richard Mandella, trained both mother and daughter.
Tamara was making only her second start, but that didn’t stop bettors from sending her off as the 13-10 favorite in a large field. She had stumbled at the beginning of her racing debut, a maiden race at Del Mar Aug. 19, and still managed to win by 2 1/4 lengths. This time she broke better and put on a clinic of professionalism, especially for a lightly raced 2-year-old filly.
When the gate opened, Tamara bumped with Pushiness to her inside, but that didn’t bother either runner. Pushiness, owned by Mike Repole and winner of the Aug. 6 CTBA Stakes, set the pace, and jockey Mike Smith let Tamara play follow-the-leader down the backstretch, knowing he was sitting on a powder keg of talent.
Pushiness raced the first quarter-mile in :21.85 and was also responsible for the half-mile fraction of :44.45. But midway on the turn, Tamara flew past Pushiness in just a couple of strides. Laurent , a daughter of Practical Joke who broke her maiden in her first and only outing, started to pass horses on the outside with a move that might have been a winning one had she not been facing Tamara.
Tamara galloped down the Del Mar stretch, conjuring up images of her dam as she floated home the easiest of winners. She defeated Laurent in 1:22.41, with Gate to Paradise another 2 1/4 lengths back in third.
“I was fortunate to have ridden her mother once,” said Smith. “She’s just taken after her mom. She does things that are just way above average. The best part of the race was at the wire, and I was actually kind of gearing her down.”
Mike Smith aboard Tamara after winning the Del Mar Debutante at Del Mar
Mandella, while admitting that he expected Tamara to run well, did not expect that level of amazing.
“Watching it, he had so much horse he didn’t want to restrict her,” Mandella said. “He just had her do what she wanted to do. She’s very quick, so I thought he would put her right there (near the pace), and we both agreed to that—just see what everybody else does.”
All anybody else could do was watch an awesome performance.
Tamara cruises to victory in the Del Mar Debutante at Del Mar
The race originally had a full field of 14, but Dreamfyre , winner of the Sorrento Stakes (G3) at Del Mar and the Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton and the 4-1 second choice on the morning line, was scratched the morning of the race. Dan Preiss, the bloodstock agent who had been involved with Dreamfyre’s purchase for owner Dan Eplin, tweeted that “Dreamfyre didn’t clean up her bucket this morning and out of an abundance of caution we’ve decided to scratch her.”
That left 13 in the post parade, but when the field began loading for the start, Where’s My Ring flipped behind the gate and ultimately had to be scratched. The race was delayed while the remaining fillies were backed out and reloaded.
The commotion didn’t faze Tamara, who became Mandella’s second Debutante winner, following champion Halfbridled in 2003. In winning the Debutante, Tamara also avenged one of Beholder’s most heartbreaking losses. Beholder went into the 2012 Debutante after two starts as an 8-1 third choice to the odds-on Bob Baffert-trained favorite, Executiveprivilege . Beholder hit the side of the gate at the start, but surged to the lead and set the pace throughout until the very last stride, losing by the slimmest of noses to Executiveprivilege.
Beholder went on to win that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and the first of her four Eclipse Awards. With Mandella giving Beholder several judicious breaks through her long career, she raced through age 6, racking up earnings of more than $6 million. Tamara, bred by Spendthrift in Kentucky, is the mare’s fourth foal and second stakes winner, following Teena Ella , who won this year’s Senorita Stakes (G3). Mandella also trains Teena Ella, a daughter of War Front , for Spendthrift.
In the pipeline is a yearling colt by Curlin . Beholder does not have a 2023 foal, and she was bred back to sprint champion Jackie’s Warrior .
Tamara, Major Dude , Instant Coffee , Thirty Thou Kelvin , Boppy O , Corona Bolt , and Bold Discovery are 2023 stakes winners sired by Bolt d’Oro , the leading first-crop sire of 2022. Bolt d’Oro won the 2017 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and FrontRunner Stakes (G1), and he stood for a 2023 stud fee of $35,000 at Spendthrift near Lexington.
