Public Assembly’s win at Santa Anita breaks Phil D’Amato’s slump

Public Assembly’s win at Santa Anita breaks Phil D’Amato’s slump

Public Assembly and jockey Antonio Fresu scored an upset in the $100,000, Grade III Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday to give trainer Phil D’Amato his overdue first stakes level victory of 2025. D’Amato, one of Southern California’s leading trainers, had been 0 for 23 in stakes this year. D’Amato won the Royal Heroine, a 1-mile turf race for fillies and mares, for the fourth time in five years and fifth time overall. Continuing her…

Public Assembly Leads Home Long-Odds Trifecta in Royal Heroine Upset

In a surprising turn of events where none of the betting favorites finished better than seventh, Public Assembly (More Than Ready) gathered the rest and led home a pair of double-digit choices to score her first black-type in the GIII Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita. Coming into the race off a victory last out Mar. 30 against local optional claimers in her first jump for her new connections, the chestnut was bet down to 8-1 odds as 'TDN Risi…