Dar Re Mi upsets Sariska in Yorkshire Oaks

Dar Re Mi handed Sariska a stunning defeat in the Group 1, $512,000 Yorkshire Oaks at York on Thursday, beating the odds-on dual Oaks winner decisively by three-quarters of a length.

Sent off as the 11-2 second choice behind the 4-11 Sariska, the 4-year-old Dar Re Mi tracked a fast pace in fourth with the favorite tucked in just behind her. Jamie Spencer was already hard at work on Sariska approaching the quarter pole, while Jimmy Fortune appeared to have plenty in hand on the winner. Dar Re Mi led 1 1/2 furlongs from the line and held her rival safe the rest of the way. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to the third-place Roman Empress, who was acting as the pacesetter for Tamarind, who came home fifth for Aidan O'Brien. The time for the 1 1/2 miles on good to firm ground was 2:30.98.

Trained by John Gosden for Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Dar Re Mi had finished second in last year's Yorkshire Oaks. On June 27 she earned herself a spot in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf by winning the 1 1/4-mile Pretty Polly Stakes, at which time Lloyd-Webber's wife had expressed an interest in sending her homebred Singspiel filly to Santa Anita. Those plans may be on hold now as Mrs. Lloyd-Webber announced that Dar Re Mi would run next at Longchamp in the 1 1/2-mile Prix Vermeille on Sept. 13 as a prelude to a possible attempt at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In both races, she could once again face Sariska, who was meeting older fillies for the first time today after victories in the both the English and Irish Oaks.

Lady of the Desert takes Lowther by three

Earlier, Lady of the Desert made like her dam Queen's Logic and landed the Group 2, $165,000 Lowther Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The 13-8 Brian Meehan-trained Rahy filly, who had previously won the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes, led virtually throughout to record a three-length victory over Beyond Desire, getting the six furlongs in 1:09.34, just 0.06 of a second off the juvenile track mark set by Showcasing in the Gimcrack Stakes on Wednesday. Lady of the Desert will go next in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on Oct. 2.