Well-bred Tamara dazzles in her Del Mar Debutante triumph

Spendthrift Farm’s homebred dandy Tamara put it in gear early and just kept on going in simply outrunning 11 of her 2-year-old rivals Saturday at Del Mar in the 73rd edition of the Grade 1, $303,500 Del Mar Debutante.

The well-made daughter of the hot, young sire Bolt d’Oro out of the multiple-champion mare Beholder wound up 6 3/4 lengths in front at the finish of the seven-furlong, filly crucible that she covered in 1:22.41.

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

“Very exciting,” Mandella said. “I expected her to run good, but that was a little beyond. Watching it, (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.”

Tamara, who broke her maiden at Del Mar on Aug. 19 in her only other outing, picked up a first prize of $180,000 for her tally and has $229,200 in winnings.

Her mother, a four-time Eclipse Award winner and three-time Breeders’ Cup victress, ran in the Del Mar Debutante in 2012 and was beaten by a nose by a filly named Executiveprivilege. Beholder would go on to win 13 graded stakes, including 11 Grade 1s.

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

“She’s been doing things in her training that 2-year-olds aren’t supposed to do,” Smith said. “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.”