Tamara to remain in training; will get extended break

Tamara, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2023, will be given an extended break in coming months after sustaining a leg injury in a training accident earlier this year.

Trainer Richard Mandella said on Friday that Tamara’s injury will not require an operation, a reverse from plans announced earlier in February.

“I don’t think she needs anything,” he said. “We’re going to give her some time off.”

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Tamara “knocked a little chip off the top of her sesamoid,” Mandella said. The incident occurred when Tamara kicked a fence while leaving the Santa Anita infield training track, Mandella said in mid-February.

In her recovery, Tamara will likely spend part or the time at a local farm where she will undergo water treadmill therapy, Mandella said.

A 4-year-old filly, Tamara is by Bolt d’Oro out of Beholder, a Hall of Fame mare and four-time champion in a five-year career from 2012 to 2016.

Owned by Spendthrift Farm, Tamara has not raced since she finished second by a nose at 2-5 in a six-furlong allowance race at Del Mar in November, her only start of 2024. Tamara missed a scheduled start in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 because of illness.

The Mandella-trained Kopion, winner of the La Brea, and Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for filly and mare sprinters earlier this year, is scheduled to resume training this weekend after briefly being sidelined by an illness. The setback will prevent Kopion from starting in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita on March 8.

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