Tilde


The career of this champion Cal-bred could be seen as a tale of two halves.

The back end produced several off-the-board results. But for a few months in 2012, Tilde was virtually unbeatable as she stopped at each of Southern California's big three racetracks.

First came a start against maiden special weight company at Hollywood Park. Aboard for trainer and owner Mike Harrington was Rafael Bejarano, who would be part of all the filly's future successes. Tilde liked being in the early mix, and she knew how to battle. Racing in the stretch in her debut, Tilde looked beat as she plugged along the inside. But she roared back to win by a head in a gutsy effort against open company.

The connections liked what they saw, for Tilde showed up in the Cinderella Stakes next time out. She finished third in what was not a bad first try against winners, and the Cinderella also consisted of open company.

Next up was Del Mar, and Tilde had herself a superb meet by the beach that summer. She first appeared in the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes (CTBA), scoring a decisive victory after battling with a rival for much of the five and one-half furlong contest. No one could touch her in the stretch, and she once again displayed the toughness prevalent in her first outing.

Tilde's follow up to the CTBA Stakes came in the Generous Portion. Assigned to go three-quarters of a mile, Tilde sat behind the pace and pounced in the stretch, moving right along on the outside to come up with her second stakes win.

A few weeks after the Generous Portion, Tilde showed up at Santa Anita. The Keith E. Card California Cup Juvenile Fillies marked her routing debut, and Tilde and Bejarano employed similar tactics they used in the Generous Portion. The fans saw the gray filly alongside the leader at the top of the stretch, and again she did not disappoint. Reminiscent of her hard-fought debut win, Tilde engaged Doinghardtimeagain in those last furlongs in a thrilling battle before taking control in the last jumps to win her third straight race and fourth in five starts.

The California Cup Juvenile Filles proved to be the apex of Tilde's career. She closed out her two-year-old campaign with a sixth in Hollywood Park's Sharp Cat Stakes in November and a fourth in the Soviet Problem Stakes in December (where she just missed out on third). But those blemishes did not diminish the nice overall record Tilde put together. Her productive run through the spring and fall earned her Champion Cal-bred Two-Year-Old Filly honors for 2012, a deserving honor given her toughness and versatility.

Tilde made two more starts in her career, both of them as a three-year-old. She finished ninth over an off track in Santa Anita's California Breeders' Champion Stakes. She returned over two months later in the Evening Jewel Stakes, again at Santa Anita, but was not a factor and finished in eleventh place.

Following the Evening Jewel, Tilde wrapped up her career with four wins and a third in nine starts. Her last four starts of course did not match what she accomplished before, but she showed some class during her freshman campaign en route to championship honors.

Throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2012, Tilde established herself as a force in Southern California's two-year-old filly division, and her toughness and versatility brought her a nice run of success in a short period of time.


Entry added June 24, 2021 by AF.