ARCADIA, Calif. - In the final furlong of Saturday’s Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, jockey Umberto Rispoli found himself briefly in a desperate situation aboard a fast-closing Formidable Man. Rispoli had positioned Formidable Man on the inside and needed racing room. Formidable Man was held up briefly and was making steady progress when pacesetter Cabo Spirit moved away from the rail. Formidable Man had sufficient room. “It was crazy,” Rispoli said. “I had a wall of horses in front of me. I thought, 'I hope it doesn’t close. I hope it doesn’t close.'” It didn’t. Formidable Man rallied from sixth in the final furlong to win by a half-length over 23-1 Zio Jo. Cabo Spirit (31-1) finished third, a neck behind Zio Jo. Formidable Man ($12.20) was timed in 1:34.57 in the turf race, and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 98. The victory gave trainer Michael McCarthy a third graded stakes win at Santa Anita on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Liguria won the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes for fillies and mares on turf and Journalism won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds on dirt for McCarthy. Formidable Man won his fourth stakes in his last five starts in the $301,000 Kilroe Mile, the richest turf race of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. Rispoli had Formidable Man in fourth place and then fifth through the first six furlongs, tracking Cabo Spirit, who set a modest pace of 23.20 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 47.26 for a half-mile. Cabo Spirit led by a half-length with a quarter-mile remaining and was still prominent when Zio Jo took a slim lead in the stretch. Jockey Kyle Frey briefly thought Zio Jo was on the verge of an upset. “If the inside horse doesn't give up the rail, I’m home,” Frey said. Cabo Spirit, winner of the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship at 1 1/4 miles on turf in September, finished a nose in front of Almendares, who was followed by 4-5 favorite Mi Hermano Ramon, Neat, and Air Force Red. Mi Hermano Ramon was last of seven with a furlong remaining and closed some ground under jockey Flavien Prat to lose by about 1 1/4 lengths. Prat said Mi Hermano Ramon was “too far back” and had “too much to do.” The race lost a prominent runner when El Potente was withdrawn on Saturday morning. El Potente won the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes on Feb. 1. Trainer Dan Blacker declined to discuss the reason for the scratch late Saturday morning. Formidable Man, owned by William and Suzanne Warren, raced without blinkers for the first time in the Kilroe Mile. The lack of equipment left the colt more settled. “It was a huge change,” Rispoli said. With blinkers, “they want to break and go,” Rispoli said. The win erased the frustration of a last-place finish in a field of 12 by Formidable Man in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 25. Formidable Man set the pace to the turn before fading through the stretch in that race. Rispoli was aboard for the loss and took the blame on Saturday. “That wasn’t a true performance in the Pegasus,” he said. “I was quicker than I should have been. I could do a mea culpa.” Rispoli rode Formidable Man to three consecutive stakes wins at Del Mar last summer and fall:  the restricted Oceanside Stakes in July, the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in September, and Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 30. Formidable Man, by City of Light, has won 6 of 12 career starts and earned $817,425.