Adare Manor was thought to be the West Coast’s top Kentucky Oaks hopeful heading into Saturday’s $400,000 Grade II Santa Anita Oaks, but the connections for the overlooked Desert Dawn had other ideas.

Ridden by Umberto Rispoli and trained by Philip D’Amato, Desert Dawn defeated Adare Manor, the 3-5 favorite, by a neck as the longest shot in the five-horse field at 14-1. The Cupid filly had come up empty in four previous tries at graded stakes.

Final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.50.

“She’s an honest filly,” D’Amato said. “I always thought once she’d get her scenario, it would work out for her and I think the longer, the better. Umberto’s been breezing her and her last drill was probably her best drill to date. It all worked out.”

Desert Dawn earned 100 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points with the victory, putting her squarely in the May 6 race at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Oaks is a sixteenth of a mile longer than Saturday’s race.

“I knew we needed that last race,” Rispoli said of a fourth-place finish in the Grade III Santa Ysabel on March 6. “I just wanted to keep her outside and I knew the pace would set up really well for her. We started to move at the three-eighths pole and she fought every step of the way. She gave me the Santa Anita Oaks and now it is on to Kentucky.”

Jockey John Velazquez said Adare Manor didn’t run like the same filly who won the Grade III Las Virgenes Stakes by 13 lengths on Feb. 6 at Santa Anita.

“We are obviously disappointed in the result,” he said. “She just didn’t run her A-race. She broke slowly and was in a good position in the backstretch, but she just didn’t run the way she usually does.”

Royal Heroine Stakes

Going Global, the 1-5 favorite, made short work of the field in the $200,000 Grade II turf race for older fillies and mares under Rispoli.

Going Global and jockey Umberto Rispoli win the Royal Heroine Stakes on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. (Benoit Photo)

Trained by D’Amato, the 4-year-old Mehmas filly went into the race off an uncharacteristically poor showing in the Grade I American Oaks on Dec. 26 when she finished a badly beaten sixth as the 4-5 favorite.

It was Going Global’s sixth victory in a graded stakes, including the Grade I Del Mar Oaks last summer.

She’s won seven of her nine races in the U.S. since coming over from Ireland.

Monrovia Stakes

Brooke Marie, a 6-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid, made her Southern California debut a winning one by beating Alice Marble and Tobys Heart in the $200,000 Grade II turf sprint for fillies and mares.

Brooke Marie and jockey Juan Hernandez, outside, outleg Alice Marble, with Edwin Maldonado aboard, to win the Monrovia Stakes on Saturday, April 9, 2022 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. (Benoit Photo)

Ridden by Juan Hernandez and trained by Eddie Kenneally, Brooke Marie took the lead in the final sixteenth of a mile and beat Alice Marble by a half-length as the 9-2 fourth choice in the wagering.

Providencia Stakes

Hall of Famer Mike Smith guided Cairo Memories, trained by Bob Hess Jr., to a gate-to-wire victory in the $200,000 Grade III grass race for 3-year-old fillies.

Cairo Memories and jockey Mike Smith win the Providencia Stakes on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. (Benoit Photo)

Beaten by 24 lengths in her last start on the dirt, Cairo Memories beat Sterling Crest by 4 1/2 lengths for her first graded-stakes victory.

She was sent postward as the 5-2 third choice in the wagering.

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