After a roller-coaster recovery, Tamara makes her return

DEL MAR, Calif. – Tamara starts over Friday at Del Mar, and if the well-bred 3-year-old filly is as good as last season, the allowance sprint could be a formality even if it is her first start in a year.

“If she’s anything like last year, she’ll run good,” trainer Richard Mandella said. He believes Tamara is at least as good this year. “I think she is, the way she trains, yes. She’s filled out, stronger than she was.”

Tamara has a reputation to restore. Produced by Hall of Fame race mare Beholder and sired by Bolt d’Oro, Tamara burst onto the scene in summer 2023 with an impressive debut victory followed by a romp in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante. The sky was the limit. Then the sky fell.

The odds-on favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, Tamara set the pace, faded to seventh, and emerged with a fractured splint bone in her left hind. No surgery was required, only time. Minor setbacks delayed her return until Friday, when she breaks from the rail in a six-furlong race against stakes winner Sandy Bottom, stakes-placed Anywho, and three others.

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The comeback of Tamara in race 7 is the sporting highlight Friday, while race 8 is the wagering highlight. A deep field of allowance fillies and mares race a mile on turf led by front-running comebacker Gracelund Gray and late-runners Royal Charter and Yerwanthere.

Notwithstanding low odds, Tamara is the Friday star for Mandella, jockey Mike Smith, and owner-breeder Spendthrift Farm. Tamara was not expected to be gone this long. Her last start was Nov. 3, 2023.

Tamara resumed workouts at Santa Anita in early April, and by late May she was almost set. “We had her about ready, and she got a little bit stoved up, aching all over,” Mandella said. “Nothing really wrong, we scanned her and everything, and gave her a break.”

It was three months until Tamara resumed workouts in late August. Then came another hiccup. After a fast work in early September. Tamara got sick and went another month without a work.

“She didn’t get real sick, we just went easy on her,” Mandella said. Tamara stayed at the barn, resumed works in early October, and since then has not missed a beat. Her pattern includes two sharp recent works at Del Mar. “Now, she’s good,” Mandella said.

The 91 Beyer Speed Figure that Tamara earned in the Del Mar Debutante is the highest in the Friday field. However, the rail post poses a challenge, particularly since 2023 Anoakia Stakes winner Sandy Bottom is drawn outside and is quick enough to apply pressure. Michael McCarthy trains Sandy Bottom, who is 2 for 2 but unraced since October 2023.

Creditable efforts by 3-year-olds Tamara and Sandy Bottom would put them on target for the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, a sprint stakes for 3-year-old fillies traditionally run Dec. 26, opening day of the Santa Anita winter meet.

While wagering value on Tamara is negligible in race 7, the race 8 turf allowance is deep. Graded stakes-placed Gracelund Gray will make her first start since she bled and finished fifth in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes in April at Santa Anita. Trainer Peter Eurton turned her out.

“She’s training great,” Eurton said, adding a comeback caveat. “Generally, I think she needs [a prep race] because she runs the whole race.”

Gracelund Gray runs full tilt start to finish. It’s a tough way to win a comeback, especially since the Del Mar turf has favored late-runners this fall. Only one of 22 turf routes was won by the pacesetter, eight were won by horses positioned second or third, 13 winners rallied from fourth position or farther back.

Royal Charter drops from stakes for trainer Leonard Powell and jockey Kazushi Kimura. Yerwanthere also drops for trainer Paddy Gallagher and jockey Umberto Rispoli. Royal Charter and Yerwanthere benefit by an abundance of pace in the turf mile, including Gracelund Gray, Sneaker, and Well Into.

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