Tell a Kelly came from last place to cruise to a 4 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Sept. 4 at the southern California track.  The 2-year-old filly became the second juvenile stakes winner for Tapit in little more than a week, following Never Right Joey's score in the High Rock Springs S. Aug. 26 at Saratoga. She also is the second Del Mar Deb winner by Tapit in the past three years, following Champion Stardom Bound's win in 2008.

With 11 juvenile winners and three juvenile stakes horses this year, Tapit is now North America's Leading Sire of Two-Year-Olds. He ranks third among all third-crop sires in North America, with progeny earnings of $4.1 million. The Champion Freshman and Juvenile Sire his first season, Tapit also ranked third among second-crop sires last year.

In the Debutante, Tell a Kelly got squeezed a bit at the break, and found herself last of ten after a half-mile. The adventurous trip continued when she was boxed in on the turn and had to swing wide to avoid another foe in mid-stretch. Despite the obstacles, Tell a Kelly was really rolling, and once she was finally clear, she powered away from the field to win going away. The final time for seven furlongs on the all-weather was 1:23.05.

"She broke well and I could tell they were going very, very fast up there," said Alonso Quinonez, who has ridden Tell a Kelly in all of her starts. "I just let her settle and then I started looking for my spots. I didn't want to get caught in behind some horse that was stopping; I wanted to go with the horses that were going. It all worked out great. I asked her and she exploded."

Owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash and trained by John Sadler, Tell a Kelly earned $150,000 for the victory. She has made three starts, all at the Del Mar meet. After running fifth in her debut on July 25, she came back to break her maiden on Aug. 15. Her overall earnings are now $181,000.

Sadler has his newest star's plans mapped out for the remainder of the year. "I was hoping there would be a good pace, because she likes to ease back and settle. She was able to do that today. We'll stay home and run at Oak Tree (at Hollywood Park) in the Oak Leaf (G1) and then head for Kentucky for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1)."

Tell a Kelly was a $45,000 Keeneland yearling buy last September. As they have done with several of their horses, the owners named the filly after a family member, in this case their daughter, who was also in attendance. Karen C. West bred the winner in Florida.