Tamara Honors Her Mother in "Debutante"

Tamara. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)

Del Mar Press Release/Edited

DEL MAR, Calif.—Spendthrift Farm’s homebred dandy Tamara put it in gear early and just kept on going in simply outrunning 11 rivals Saturday at Del Mar in the 73rd edition of the FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante.

The well-made daughter of the hot young sire Bolt d’Oro out of the multiple-champion mare Beholder wound up six and three-quarter lengths in front at the finish of the seven-furlong filly crucible that she covered in 1:22.41.

Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith was merely along for the ride as his filly did it all by herself in the Grade I headliner. Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, her conditioner and also the trainer of her Hall of Fame mother, looked on happily.

Smith’s third victory in the Debutante, the stakes win was the third of the meet for rider Smith and his 80th overall at Del Mar 11th most among all riders.

This is trainer Mandella’s second Debutante victory (Halfbridled, 2003). He now has 74 stakes wins at Del Mar, tied for fourth most with Charlie Whittingham.

Tamara, who broke her maiden at Del Mar on August 19 in her only other outing, picked up a first prize of $180,000 for her tally in the $303,500 stakes. She now has $229,200 in winnings.

Her mother, the four-time Eclipse Award winner and three-time Breeders’ Cup victress, ran in the Del Mar Debutante in 2012 and was beaten a nose by a filly named Executiveprivilege. Beholder would go on to win 13 Graded stakes, including 11 Grade Is.

Tamara paid $4.60 for $2 in this year’s version of the headliner.

Finishing second was Exline-Border Racing, et al’s Laurent, who had two and a quarter length on C R K Stable’s Gate to Paradise.

Fractions were :21.85, :44.45, 1:09.72 with a final time of 1:22.41.

MIKE SMITH (Tamara, winner) – “She’s been doing things in her training that 2-year-olds aren’t supposed to do. She’s really special. She’s like her mother. You don’t see that usually. Those great mares they normally don’t have great foals. But this one might be. I just held on today. I didn’t want to fall off. She was doing it all herself. What can I say. She’s very special.”

RICHARD MANDELLA (Tamara, winner) – “Very exciting. I expected her to run good but that was a little beyond. Watching it, he (jockey Mike Smith) had so much horse he didn’t want to restrict her. He just had her do what she wanted to do. She’s very quick, so I thought he would put her right there (lay second and up close) and we both agreed to that, just see what everybody else does.”

Earlier in the card, Race 5, the chestnut filly Flattery came running from dead last to zoom by seven rivals and come away a length winner in the 12th running of the $101,500 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The daughter of Flatter, owned by an extended partnership headed by Exline-Border Racing, covered the mile on grass in 1:36.86 under leading rider Juan Hernandez to finish up in 1:36.86 and pick up a check for $60,000. She now has two victories in two starts and earnings of $109,200. She paid $8.60 for the win.

Finishing second in the stakes was Living the Dream, Medallion Racing or Fowler’s race favorite Loterie, who had a length and a quarter on Great Friends Stables et al’s Angiolleta.

JUAN HERNANDEZ (Flattery, winner) – “She broke good, then we took back. I was watching Umberto (Rispoli on favored Loterie) to see what he was doing. On the turn, he got the jump on me, so I went. I took outside and my filly really ran. She was more professional today than in her first race. She was strong.”

PETER EURTON (Flattery, winner) – “I didn’t know if she was going to get out of it because they were kind of trapped a little inside. But once he got her settled it was just a matter of time. He had so much horse. She’s kind of jumped up a level since her last. She’s more precocious and her last works were more on the bridle. She picked things up pretty quick.”

In the day’s Race 7, the $250,500 John C. Mabee Stakes for fillies and mares, aged 3 and up, favored Closing Remarks stayed within range early, then fired well down the middle of the track in the stretch to pull away to a length and three-quarters triumph in the Grade II testing.

The winner, a 5-year-old homebred mare by Vronsky owned by Harris Farms, covered the mile and an eighth on turf in 1:48.23 and earned a check of $150,000. She paid $4.80 to win.

Closing Remarks was handled by Umberto Rispoli and is trained by Carla Gaines. She was capturing the sixth race of her career and increased her bankroll to $861,320.

Finishing second was Abbondanza Racing and Medallion Racing, et al’s Turnerloose, who was a neck better than Glen Hill Farm’s Paris Peacock.

The track’s popular Pick Six bet was not hit Saturday meaning there will be a carryover of $211,245 into Sunday’s closing card. Closing Day means a “mandatory payout” on the wager, which could run into the millions. First post will be 1:30 p.m.