CALIFORNIA - Before Saturday's $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks (Grade I), trainer Julio Canani feared that Mr. and Mrs. Martin Wygod's California-bred filly Silent Sighs might not be up to the task of competing with such rivals as unbeaten 2-year-old filly champion Halfbridled and A.P. Adventure, a regally-bred filly who also brought a spotless record into the race.

But it was Canani's filly who spurted to a clear lead on the turn for home and cruised to a 1 1/2-length upset victory as the heralded pair of Halfbridled and A.P. Adventure finished second and third, respectively.

The homebred daughter of Benchmark, whose three previous wins had come against California breds, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.84 and was sent off at odds of 6-1. Canani said on Sunday that Silent Sighs would run in the Kentucky Oaks (GI), but would not have a prep race before her trip to Churchill Downs.

"The Ashland (at Keeneland on April 3) is too close to give her another race in between," Canani said. "I've only got one filly. If I had two or three I could afford to do that."

Although she had been defeated for the first time, trainer Richard Mandella was still pleased with the runner-up effort by Halfbridled.

"She came out fine," Mandella said. "She ran good. She was a little fresh in the first turn. Having not run she wanted to break and run a little bit more than she should have the first part, but that's not an excuse. That's kind of where we are. But she ran good and I think she'll progress and do better next time."

Mandella, who nominated the daughter of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled to the Visa Triple Crown, was still non-committal about if he will run Halfbrided in the Oaks and Kentucky Derby. In either case, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) will run next in Keeneland's Ashland (GI).

FLORIDA - Many observers believe that Bruce Lunsford's unbeaten Madcap Escapade is the best 3-year-old filly in South Florida and the Frank Brothers trainee only enhanced her reputation when she rolled to a 4 3/4-length victory in Saturday's $150,000 Stonerside Forward Gal (GII).

The daughter of Hennessy, ridden for the first time by Jerry Bailey, was a prohibitive 1-5 favorite as she won for the third time in as many starts. The bay filly covered the seven furlongs in 1:22.97. Brothers has not firmly committed to her next start and has yet to completely rule out a run against males, but the filly is not nominated to the Visa Triple Crown.

"So far so good. She's a dead fit horse," Brothers said. "There's no sense getting tied into any one plan with her when there are so many things we could try. It's still too early."

The regally-bred La Reina, a daughter of 1992 "Horse of the Year" A.P. Indy, finished second and Frenchglen ran third in the five horse field.

Florida Oaks - The other "hot horse" in Florida might be Green Lantern Stables, LLC's Ender's Sister. The bay filly rallied late down the stretch to capture Sunday's $150,000 Florida Oaks by three-quarters of a length to notch her fourth straight victory.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, the homebred daughter of A.P. Indy covered the 1 1/16 miles in a slow 1:45.66 and was sent off as the 7-5 favorite. Menifeeque ran second while America America finished third.

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