Cambina, Nereid dead heat in American Oaks

by Kellie Reilly

"I was very concerned there when (Cambina) got tangled up, and to her credit

she re-rallied and made a race of it," Bonde said.

"I wasn't sure who won -- I have very poor eyesight at my age," the trainer

added. 

"You always worry late in the race," Shirreffs said of watching Nereid. "The

last two or three strides is where a horse is susceptible.

"You wonder where the turf course wire is. When you're watching the race in

real time, it's hard to predict exactly where the wire is."

The dead heat was the first in a Grade 1 at Hollywood Park since June 30,

1990, when the Richard Mandella-trained pair of Beautiful Melody and Reluctant

Guest finished on even terms in the Beverly Hills H.

Cambina, the 7-2 third choice in the six-filly field, paid $4.60, $3.80 and

$2.80, while the 9-2 Nereid furnished mutuels of $5.40, $5 and $3.20.

In a plot twist, Nereid's pacesetting role was unforeseen by her connections.

Her stablemate Star Billing was expected to go to the front, but a stumble at the

start took her right out of the game plan. 

Love Theway Youare showed speed from the gate, but Nereid soon outfooted her and sailed to the early lead through an opening quarter in :24

4/5. As Nereid carved out fractions of :48, 1:12 3/5 and 1:37, the 6-5 favorite

Bizzy Caroline kept close tabs on her in second. Entrustment

and Love Theway Youare came next, followed by Star Billing and an unhurried Cambina.

Turning for home, Nereid was still full of run and arguably traveling better

than Bizzy Caroline. She continued to hold sway down the stretch, and by the

eighth-pole, opened up a two-length margin over the one-paced favorite.

Talamo's ride aboard Nereid, on the other hand, was a case of going to Plan

B.

"That's what John (Shirreffs) and I were laughing about, it worked out like

we planned -- lay second," Talamo joked. "I told (jockey Joel) Rosario (on Star

Billing) to go to the lead and I was going to stalk, but his horse stumbled a

little bit. Then I was sitting off Victor (Espinoza on Love Theway Youare) and

his horse kind of propped and I inherited the lead. I really didn't want to.

"She was doing it so easy," Talamo continued. "When I hit the three-eighths

pole, I said, 'Man if she kicks, she's going to be tough to beat.'

"She didn't even start running today until she got to the sixteenth-pole.

When she felt them coming, she really kicked on. She's got a very, very bright

future."

As the drama unfolded between the dead-heating pair, Star Billing was also

finishing fast on the outside. Shirreffs' other filly checked in just a head

behind stablemate Nereid and Cambina. Entrustment was another head away in

fourth, and Bizzy Caroline was a close fifth in the blanket finish. Love Theway

Youare was a tailed-off last.

With this fourth career stakes tally to her credit, Cambina improved her

record to 12-6-1-2, $370,426. Initially based with Tommy Stack in Ireland,

Cambina broke her maiden at Killarney second time out last summer, and two

starts later, she landed a nursery at the same course. The daughter of Hawk Wing

wrapped up her juvenile campaign with a runner-up effort to the well-regarded

Chrysanthemum in the September 12 Flame of Tara at the Curragh.

Cambina made her first start for her current connections in the January 22

Sweet Life Stakes on Santa Anita's downhill course, where she was steadied hard at

the top of the stretch, but managed to improve her position late for sixth.

Jockey Russell Baze lodged a claim of foul to no avail. Cambina set the record

straight over the same course and distance in the February 21 Grade 3 La Habra,

spearing from dead last to get up in time. Next she successfully stretched out

in the March 13 China Doll and the aforementioned Providencia. When the scene

shifted from Santa Anita to Hollywood, Cambina wasn't able to reproduce those

results, getting no closer than third in the May 7 Grade 3 Senorita and the June

11 Grade 2 Honeymoon.

Bred by Carradale Ltd. in the Emerald Isle, Cambina is the first foal from

the unraced Peintre Celebre mare Await, who is herself a half-sister to

Oceanside winner Lightning Hit (Ire) and French Group 3-placed Blasket Island. This is the family of Group 3 scorers Regime

and Title Roll; multiple Group 2-placed stakes victress Salut

d'Amour (Ire); and Jacqueline Quest,

who was demoted to second after passing the post first in last year's Group 1 One

Thousand Guineas.