By DRF.com
PLEASANTON, Calif. (June 25, 2022) – California-bred Tam’s Little Angel set a slow pace and held off a late threat from Buyback to win her first stakes in Saturday’s $77,250 She’s a Tiger Stakes for fillies and mares at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif.
Tam’s Little Angel, by Tamarando, races for owners and breeders Larry and Marianne Williams and trainer Steve Specht. Tam’s Little Angel has won 4 of 10 starts and earned $155,972. Ridden by Catalino Martinez, Tam’s Little Angel race 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.91 for her third win in her last four starts.
The winning streak was disrupted by a third-place finish in the Campanile Stakes for statebred 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf on May 1. Tam’s Little Angel won allowance races at Golden Gate Fields on April 3 and May 22 in the spring.
In the She’s a Tiger Stakes, Tam’s Little Angel ($18.60) was helped by a slow pace of 24.44 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 48.62 for a half-mile.
Tam’s Little Angel was challenged by 9-2 Day Plan on the turn and in the stretch, leading by a head with a furlong remaining. Buyback (9-2) closed from a stalking position along the rail on the backstretch to reach contention with a wide rally in the stretch. Buyback closed steadily to narrowly miss catching Tam’s Little Angel, finishing second by a nose.
Day Plan finished third in the field of 10, three-quarters of a length behind Tam’s Little Angel. Anthonys Cleopatra, the 9-5 favorite, broke slowly and was never a factor.