Tamara gets on winning track with Chillingworth Stakes
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ARCADIA, Calif. - Tamara’s back.
In her first start since November, and first win since the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September 2023, Tamara overwhelmed four rivals in Saturday’s Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita.
The victory puts Tamara on schedule for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
Ridden by Mike Smith, Tamara ($2.80) stalked pacesetter Silent Law to early stretch before drawing clear to win by 3 3/4 lengths. Smith gave Tamara a confident ride in only her fifth career start. Tamara ranged alongside Silent Law on the turn. Smith asked his mount in early stretch and got a steady response.
“I knew I had horse,” Smith said. “She gave me another gear. I didn’t want to do too much too soon.
“You want to finish and get a race into her.”
Tamara was timed in 1:15.21 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
Silent Law, the 3-1 second choice, held second after setting an early pace of 21.83 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 44.06. Juan Hernandez rode Silent Law for trainer Bob Baffert.
The $100,000 Chillingworth was Silent Law’s first start since an eighth-place finish in the Grade 2 San Clemente Handicap at a mile on turf at Del Mar in July.
“We tried,” Hernandez said. “She gave me everything she had. She has a big heart. She’s improved a lot. Before she was all speed.
“She has a lot more races to come.”
Ang N Ash, the 48-1 outsider in the field of five, finished third, followed by Chismosa and Baela. Chismosa, a five-time stakes winner, is scheduled to be sold at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in Kentucky on Nov. 4.
Tamara has won 3 of 5 starts in a career often interrupted by injury. Owned by Spendthrift Farm and trained by Richard Mandella, Tamara is by Bolt d’Oro and is out of Beholder, a Hall of Fame and four-time champion from 2012-2016.
After finishing seventh as the 4-5 favorite in the BC Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar in 2023, Tamara was later diagnosed with a splint bone injury. A second-place finish by a nose in an allowance race at Del Mar last November was her only start as a 3-year-old.
An illness kept Tamara from a start in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs at Santa Anita last December. In early winter, Tamara kicked a wall and sustained an injury that required surgery several weeks later to remove a bone chip from a sesamoid.
Tamara resumed workouts in early July and was ready to race at the end of the Del Mar summer season. A targeted allowance race failed to draw sufficient entries, leading to a start in the Chillingworth and a comeback worth the wait.
“All the credit to Richard and his team,” Smith said. “They gave her the time she needed.”
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