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Rancho Sta. Rosa’s Cam From Behind relied on a feared last-quarter drive to bag the top prize in the P2-million 2023 Philracom Sampaguita Stakes last Sunday at the Metroturf.
The Havana out of Miss Lemon Drop mare, sent off as the top favorite, thus became only the third back-to-back winner of the annual event for older female horses after Malaya (2014 and 2015) and Princess Eowyn (2019 and 2020) in its 24-year history.
With jockey Kelvin Abobo settling his mount nicely in third behind Flattering You and La Liga Filipina at the onset, the roan six-year-old galloper seemed to just enjoy watching the hoof-to-hoof battle up front between the two speedsters.
As crunch time was getting closer, Abobo asked the Ruben Tupas-trained charger for a run, and run she did as it was evident with 500 meters left that she was going to be a factor in the outcome of the race.
However, that run came with her tendency to bear out at the stretch. But that didn’t cause panic to her rider as Cam From Behind was game in showing the racing public the stuff that she’s made of and kept on eating up on the lead established by the frontrunners at this point.
“I didn’t put too much effort into correcting her bearing out as this might just throw her off (her charge). I just let her run the way she wanted and with just the right amount of prodding we got the job done,” Abobo said after the race.
Sneaking in to steal second was longshot Dambana, while La Liga Filipina had just enough gas in her tank to salvage third with Enigma Uno snatching fourth.
Cam From Behind earned P1.2-million for her connections clocking 2:08.2 for the 2000m journey with splits of 24’-23’-24’-26-30.
Philracom Chairman Reli de Leon congratulated the winning connections of Cam From Behind and took notice of the impressive sales generated during the day amounting to almost P24.5 million.
“It was heartening to see the overwhelming support coming from the bayang karerista for today’s races reaching that amount despite having only 8 races,” de Leon said.
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