Birdatthewire returns to surface she loves for Princess Rooney

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While Gulfstream Park-based fillies such as Best Behavior, Kiss to Remember, Cali Star, and My Miss Venezuela can claim home-field advantage going into next Saturday’s Princess Rooney Stakes, none can boast a better local record than Birdatthewire, who is expected to ship down from Kentucky for the Grade 2 event.

Trainer Dale Romans said Friday that if all goes according to plan, Birdatthewire will be on the Tex Sutton flight scheduled to arrive in Miami on Wednesday. A Grade 1 winner, Birdatthewire made three starts here as a 3-year-old during the winter of 2015, sandwiching Grade 2 victories in the Forward Gal and Gulfstream Park Oaks around a heartbreaking second-place finish in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, in which she was arguably best but for an unlucky trip.

“She’s good right now, she likes it there, and the Princess Rooney is a nice race to win and have on your horse’s résumé,” said Romans.

The seven-furlong Princess Rooney is also a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. And while Romans said it’s a little too soon to call that race a long-range goal for Birdatthewire, he obviously would be more inclined to consider it if she earns an automatic, expenses-paid berth with a victory here next Saturday.

Birdatthewire became a Grade 1 winner in her 3-year-old finale when she rallied from well back to capture the seven-furlong La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita. She has gone winless in four subsequent starts, finishing fourth behind Sheer Drama in the Grade 1 Madison and a well-beaten fifth in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff in her last two tries.

“I didn’t think she ran bad at all in the Madison,” said Romans. “I expected her to run better last time, but she’s got the right to have one race thrown out.”

Romans said Tyler Gaffalione will ride Birdatthewire in the Princess Rooney.

Birdatthewire might not be the only Grade 1 winner in the Princess Rooney lineup. Trainer David Fawkes said Friday he has not ruled out wheeling Sheer Drama back in three weeks off her fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps.

“We’re on the fence right now, but there is a chance she could run,” Fawkes said. “Our next major goal for her could be the Ballerina; we’re actually thinking about sprinting her the rest of the year. The way she ran in the Madison, seven furlongs might just be her best game right now.

“She came out of her last race fine,” he added. “It never really set up for her the way the track was playing at Belmont that day, and the Princess Rooney is here at home and a Win and You’re In for the Filly and Mare Sprint, so it does make it appealing to us from that standpoint.”