Desert Dawn breaks through with Santa Anita Oaks upset

ARCADIA, Calif. – Desert Dawn, before Saturday a repeated also-ran against the best of her generation in California, picked the right time to run the race of her young life, as she outfinished odds-on favorite Adare Manor to pull off a 14-1 surprise in the Grade 2, $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

Desert Dawn ($31.20) was the longest shot in the five-horse field, but she got a dream trip under Umberto Rispoli, sitting third as Ain’t Easy and Adare Manor slugged it out on the front end. She came after those two rivals on the far turn, and looked as though she would pull away in upper stretch, but Adare Manor fought back to make it close.

At the wire, Desert Dawn was best by a neck, with Adare Manor 7 1/2 lengths clear of Ain’t Easy. Under the Stars, who stumbled badly at the start, was fourth, with Micro Share last.

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Desert Dawn completed 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:43.50. Her cause was aided by a contested early pace of 23.05 seconds for the quarter, 46.46 for the half, and 1:10.56 for six furlongs. She was given an 87 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She’s an honest filly,” said her trainer, Phil D’Amato, who also sent out Ain’t Easy. “We always thought she’d get a scenario someday where it would work out. The longer the better for her.”

She’ll get a chance to go another 110 yards in her next start, assuming her connections opt for the May 6 Kentucky Oaks, for which Desert Dawn is now guaranteed a spot via the 100 points she earned for the win.

Adare Manor, making her first start since moved from Bob Baffert to Tim Yakteen, was sent off at 3-5 following a pair of runaway victories in her two previous two-turn races.

“Good race, but she didn’t run her ‘A’ race,” said her rider, John Velazquez.

Adare Manor was eligible to earn points for the first time and gleaned 40, which should be enough to run in the Kentucky Oaks.

Desert Dawn had made four prior stakes tries, but never had finished better than third, and a distant one at that, in last fall’s Grade 2 Chandelier. Since then, she was last of six in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, fourth of six in the Grade 1 Starlet at Los Alamitos, and fourth of eight in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel here.

Desert Dawn, by Cupid out of the Honour and Glory mare Ashley’s Glory, was winning for the second time in seven starts, her only previous victory came against maidens at Del Mar last summer in her two-turn debut. She is a homebred for Arizona-based H and E Ranch.