D'Amato may send four horses for Churchill stakes, including Kentucky Oaks hopeful Desert Dawn

Desert Dawn, the upset winner of the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks on April 9, will be shipped to Churchill Downs on May 1 for a scheduled start in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 6.

Friday at Santa Anita, Desert Dawn had a routine gallop, trainer Phil D’Amato said.

“She had a nice gallop,” he said. “If all goes well, she’ll be on a plane on May 1.”

D’Amato is considering four runners for stakes at Churchill Downs on May 6 and 7. Ain’t Easy, third in the Santa Anita Oaks, is a candidate for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks or the Grade 2 Eight Belles Stakes, a $500,000 race for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on May 6.

D’Amato said Ain’t Easy would “have to train well” to justify a start in the Kentucky Oaks. The 14 fillies with the highest points from qualifying races gain berth in the Oaks at 1 1/8 miles. Ain’t Easy currently ranks 16th.

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Balnikhov, a game second by a nose in his American debut in the Singletary Stakes at Santa Anita on April 2, and Gregorian Chant, a two-time stakes winner in 2021, are bound for Churchill Downs.

Balnikhov is expected to start in the Grade 2 American Turf at 1 1/8 miles for 3-year-olds on May 7. Gregorian Chant, the winner of an allowance race for turf sprinters at Santa Anita in his 2022 debut on March 25, is on schedule for the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint, a $500,000 race at 5 1/2 furlongs on May 6.