Tamara

ARCADIA, CA -- After firing a five-furlong warning shot at Santa Anita Monday morning, Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite while drawing post 12 at the Rood & Riddle Post-Position Draw for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Bob Baffert-trained GI Pacific Classic hero and $2.3-million OBS April breezer will face 12 rivals in the $6-million centerpiece, including fellow sophomore and the rail-drawn GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate), GI Whitney S. winner White Abarrio (Race...

The five days between last Wednesday's pre-entries and Monday's official draw for the Breeders' Cup afford a brief window of opportunity to examine a few subtleties that emerged from the early version of the match-ups for this weekend's championships. The decision by the connections of Practical Move (Practical Joke) to aim for the GI Dirt Mile instead of the GI Classic tops the list. The Classic, which lost Mage (Good Magic) and Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) to illness and injury, respectively, over the weekend, lacks a standout favorite,...

Undefeated Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Santa Anita Saturday morning in preparation for her next start in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies under Mike Smith, who has been aboard the two-year-old daughter of Beholder for each of her two wins. In the work Tamara hooked up with some company, reportedly an unraced two-year-old colt, whom she outworked. "I was actually kind of hoping to gain some company," Smith told Zoe Cadman, "and it worked out great. If I hadn't, she's a pretty good work horse if...

Godolphin homebred Proxy (Tapit) had his final serious drill Sunday for an expected start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The 5-year-old breezed 5 furlongs in 1:02 on the fast track with regular jockey Joel Rosario in the saddle. The plan was to go in company with Godolphin's unraced 2-year-old colt Surveyor (Medaglia d'Oro), but the duo was unexpectedly joined by workers from other trainers. Despite the surprise, trainer Mike Stidham, Godolphin Chief Operating Officer Dan Pride and Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan were all smiles watching from the Grandstand....

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends Each race--particularly a Breeders' Cup win--is special to the connections of the winner, but some races stand out more than others in all who are lucky enough to witness them. Some get embedded in the mind and take up permanent residence there. Just about everyone in racing can recall in vivid detail Arazi's scintillating 1991 Juvenile or Personal Ensign's electrifying 1988 Distaff or Tiznow's gripping 2001 Classic. Each of those are among the transcendent performances in our sport that stir...

Spendthrift Farm's Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), winner of the GI Del Mar Debutante S. Sept. 9, returned to the Santa Anita work tab Wednesday for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella. With fellow Hall of Famer Mike Smith in the irons, the homebred out of four-time champion Beholder went three furlongs in :36.0 seconds. "It was an easy three-eights," Smith said. "She went around there nice and happy." Tamara is expected to make her next start in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Nov. 3. Tamara earned TDN...

The juvenile fillies division is crystalizing into one of the most intriguing subplots of the Breeders' Cup as we approach the six-week mark to the championships. The skyrocketing 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro), unveiled barely a month ago, has emerged from the West Coast as the obvious topper of her division. But the brilliant, 2-for-2  daughter of four-time champion Beholder is likely to have a fight on her hands as the upcoming stakes engagements extend around two turns, thanks to a talented trio of fillies who have ascended in...

As the sport continues in its efforts to drastically reduced the number of fatalities that occur in races and in morning training, there's little doubt that StrideSAFE is going to play an important role in preventing breakdowns. StrideSAFE is a biometric sensor mechanism that slips into the saddle cloth to detect minute changes in a horses's gait at high speed. Those changes can, and often do, signal that a horse is in the early stages of having a problem that could lead to a fatal injury. If the StrideSAFE data...

It's often been said that, no matter how hard the sport works to become safer, there will never come a time when there are zero fatalities. Unfortunately, that's probably true. But at the recently concluded Del Mar meet, not a single horse suffered a fatal breakdown during a race. Not once did a horse break a leg, crumple to the ground and then have to be euthanized behind a curtain blocking the view of a horrified public, the story making its way into the newspapers or the local news and...

'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) was resting comfortably in her stall Sunday morning, the day after capturing the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante S. The daughter of Hall of Famer Beholder sat closer to the pace than in her maiden victory. When jockey Mike Smith asked her, Tamara breezed past the pacesetter, opened up by the top of the lane and cruised home much the best. The comments afterward told it all. "It gave me chills," winning trainer Richard Mandella remarked. "I've been here in California for four...

Some eleven years after her multiple champion dam Beholder (Henny Hughes) was just nosed out of a victory, 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) did her momma proud with a thoroughly dominating performance in the GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante on closing weekend at the seaside oval. It was an effort that even exceeded the already lofty expectations of her Hall of Fame connections. "She's been doing things in her training that 2-year-olds aren't supposed to do," said her jockey Mile Smith. "She's really special. She's like her mother....

The going sticks will get stuck and with the rails down or out, the Saturday graded stakes lineup trucks in with heaps of sod for your turf racing enjoyment. Whether you are a dabbling duck or one that takes a deep dive, there is something for everyone as the Downs--Kentucky and Colonial--plus Woodbine Racetrack and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, all feature high-level grass action. KENTUCKY DOWNS GRADED SIX PACK The uniquely designed turf course at Kentucky Downs cards the most graded stakes this Saturday, which will lead off with...