ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Santa Barbara disappointed in England, showed what her hype was about in Ireland, and is killing it here in America. Five weeks after overcoming trouble to score a sharp win in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, and after going back home to trainer Aidan O’Brien’s yard in Ireland, Santa Barbara flaunted her vast ability with a seemingly effortless victory over older horses in the Grade 1, $400,000 Beverly D. Stakes on Saturday at Arlington. Tracking the pace from third while racing along the fence under Ryan Moore, Santa Barbara came out into the three path approaching the quarter pole and mowed down the pair in front of her, winning the Beverly D. by three lengths. “She was very comfortable,” said Moore, who has ridden Santa Barbara her last four starts. “She took me there too easy, really. She was just coasting the last furlong.” :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Mean Mary fought hard for second, holding off a late bid by Lemista, who was a close third. Mean Mary had terrible luck before the race actually began, pushing open the stall doors before the latch sprang to start the race and breaking through the gate, though she was corralled by jockey Luis Saez and an assistant starter before she could run off. Saez “said she hit the gate pretty hard, and it took a little of the sting out of her,” trainer Graham Motion said. “It’s not her being bad. She just anticipates the gate. She really banged it, and that just takes some of the wind out of her sails. But that’s her game – she jumps the gate. Very frustrating.” Mean Mary, breaking properly this time, went forward from her inside post position, taking little early pressure from Naval Laughter to her outside. The first quarter-mile went in 24.57 seconds, the half in 49.34 as 13-1 shot Naval Laughter drew abreast Mean Mary. Six furlongs passed in 1:13.33, positions unchanged as the field hit the far turn, but even then, Santa Barbara, loaded with run, waiting for her cue, looked like a sure winner. As Naval Laughter dropped away, Santa Barbara collared Mean Mary at the three-sixteenths pole, the older mare trying hard to fight back, but her younger rival, getting a six-pound weight break, was finishing with too much energy. Sprinting home, Santa Barbara stopped the timer in 1:54.55 over a turf course rated good, paying $4 as the narrowest of favorites over Mean Mary. Santa Barbara was given a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. Lemista, coming off a flat performance in the Diana at Saratoga, ran better Saturday while racing on Lasix for the first time, coming within a head of Mean Mary. “I was traveling super and was in a good position,” jockey Flavien Prat said. “When they picked it up [around the far turn] she asked me to get a breather, I think, and just couldn’t really keep up with them. But she regrouped and finished well.” Joy Epifora finished fourth as Naval Laughter faded to last. Bramble Queen and Oh So Terrible were early scratches. Santa Barbara is by Camelot out of Senta’s Dream, by Danehill, and is a sister to Order of Australia, who won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2020, and Iridessa, who won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in 2019. “She won the Belmont race very comfortably. The family has a lot of speed, and it suits them coming to flat, tight, fast-turn tracks,” Moore said. Santa Barbara won a maiden race in her lone start at 2 and looked good enough doing it and while training at home that she was favored in her second career start, the 1000 Guineas in May at Newmarket. A respectable fourth there while racing greenly, Moore said, Santa Barbara was undone by a combination of ground with too much give and a 1 1/2-mile distance, finishing a distant fifth in the Oaks at Epsom. Facing Thundering Nights, who nearly had run down Mean Mary in the New York Stakes at Belmont, Santa Barbara ran the best race of her career coming up just short in the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes on June 27 at The Curragh. Then it was on to America and up to a new career peak. O’Brien said earlier this week that the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar is a late-season target, and if Santa Barbara continues along this trajectory, the most important American Grade 1 in her division also should fall within her scope.