Beholder's Grade 1-Winning Daughter Tamara Retired

Spendthrift Farm's blue-blooded homebred Tamara, a talented filly who has battled physical problems since winning the 2023 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), has been retired. The news was first reported by Daily Racing Form and was confirmed to BloodHorse by Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey. The 4-year-old daughter of Spendthrift sire Bolt d'Oro and the breeding operation's Racing Hall of Fame mare Beholder worked 5 furlongs in :57 4/5 Dec. 27 on Santa Anita Park's all-weather training track. Trainer Richard Mandella informed Spendthrift that Tamara was off in her right front leg two days after the work, Toffey said. Tamara was under consideration for the Jan. 4 Las Flores Stakes (G3). "The vets who scratched her at the Breeders' Cup had her off in one leg, and two days after the work, she was off in the other. (Mandella) sent us a video of her jogging, and it was very subtle," Toffey said. "She's obviously had her share of issues, and Richard felt like it was not worth taking a risk. And we felt like, here we are six weeks ahead of breeding season, it's probably best just to bring her home to Kentucky at this point." Toffey said Tamara will be bred to Spendthrift stallion Omaha Beach, the leading third-crop sire who has enjoyed a strong year with five graded winners, including Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) winner Kopion and Goodwood Stakes (G1) winner Nevada Beach. Tamara has a grade 3-placed half sister, Teen Ella, by Omaha Beach's sire War Front. "We know the cross works, and Omaha Beach has really stepped up to another level this year. We're as excited about this mating as much as any of the usual suspects you'd think of for a mare of this caliber," Toffey said. "Obviously, brilliance and precocity are the two things she really demonstrated, and she has a wonderful pedigree." Tamara retires with a 2-1-0 record and earnings of $261,400 from five starts. Although she is still listed on Equibase as the winner of the Oct. 4 Chillingworth Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita, that victory will be vacated because she tested positive for the muscle relaxant methocarbamol. Mandella took full responsibility for the positive. Tamara looked like a superstar in the making when she won her debut at Del Mar in August 2023 and then took the Debutante by 6 3/4 lengths. She went favored at 4-5 in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita but suffered an injury during the running and finished seventh. It took a full year for her to make her next start, when she finished second in a Del Mar allowance in November 2024. Then it was another 10 months before she made it back to the starting gate, when she won the Chillingworth by 3 3/4 lengths. Following that win, Mandella and Spendthrift had high hopes for Tamara in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1); however, she was scratched from that race by the regulatory veterinarians over soundness concerns. "She showed us as a 2-year-old what she is. It was a little frustrating not to get more of that from her, but we know the talent is there, so we're very excited about starting the next chapter," Toffey said.