Tamara to start next in Las Flores; disqualified from Chillingworth win

Tamara, a Grade 1 winner in 2023, is scheduled to have her first start as a 5-year-old in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 4.

On Monday, Tamara worked five furlongs at Santa Anita in 59.20 seconds, the fastest of 75 recorded works at the distance.

The $100,000 Las Flores is run at six furlongs for fillies and mares and leads to the Grade 2 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on Feb. 7. The Lukas Stakes was previously known as the Santa Monica Stakes.

Owned and bred by Spendthrift Farm, Tamara has not raced since she finished first in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 4, in what turned out to be her only start of 2025.

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Tamara has been disqualified from that win for testing positive for the banned medication methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant, according to the national Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit’s website.

Trainer Richard Mandella said on Wednesday that a second test confirmed the positive. He was fined $500, according to HIWU. The decision was announced on Tuesday.

Tamara was withdrawn from the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1 after veterinarians diagnosed lameness.

By Bolt d’Oro, Tamara won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante for 2-year-old fillies in 2023. Tamara is out of the Hall of Fame mare Beholder, a four-time champion from 2012-2016.

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