Cambodia's Yellow Ribbon win marks another unforgettable Del Mar memory for owner
DEL MAR, Calif. – The first time Kentucky owner and breeder Don Robinson visited Del Mar he was a high school graduate working in the stables in the mid-1960s.
“We swam horses in the surf,” he recalled Saturday. “I was here for a short time and it was unforgettable.”
For Robinson, so was Saturday afternoon at Del Mar. Cambodia, a 5-year-old mare he bred and owns, won the most prestigious race of her career in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares on turf.
“It’s the biggest thrill of my life,” he said in the winner’s circle.
Robinson admitted he almost did not attend the race. His Winter Quarter Farm in Lexington, Ky., had a few colts consigned to the Saratoga Yearling Sale on Monday and Tuesday.
Cambodia has won 5 of 12 starts and earned $323,746. The $120,000 winner’s share of the Yellow Ribbon was her biggest payday. She won the Grade 3 Gallorette Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Pimlico in May, her only other stakes win.
Robinson said he intended to sell the 5-year-old Cambodia as a yearling.
“She was unsellable at the time,” he said. “She didn’t X-ray well, but she didn’t have an unsound day.”
Cambodia did not debut until the fall of her 3-year-old season in 2015, and won her fourth start against maidens at Tampa Bay Downs in December 2015. Cambodia was trained by Ben Colebrook for her first four starts, and by Tom Proctor since the fall of 2016.
Cambodia was the 2-1 second choice over Avenge, who was 9-10 favorite. Avenge was third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last November, but finished sixth in the Yellow Ribbon, three lengths behind Cambodia.
Sunday, trainer Richard Mandella said Avenge emerged from the race with cuts on a leg that required staples to close.
“It was nothing terrible, but it didn’t help her,” he said. “She acted up in the gate. It could have happened there or leaving the gate.”
Mandella said Avenge will not race again at the Del Mar summer meeting, which runs through Sept. 4.