Ce Ce would benefit from a tight surface in Princess Rooney
Weather and track condition could ultimately be the deciding factor when it comes to who receives the automatic, all-expenses-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint that goes to the winner of Saturday’s $350,000 Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park.
The Grade 2 Princess Rooney, once again the only Breeders’ Cup Challenge race to be held at Gulfstream Park this season, drew a field of eight older fillies and mares to go seven furlongs on the main track. The group includes likely favorite Ce Ce, who is at her best when the track is fast and firm, along with top challengers Estilo Talentoso and Laura’s Light, both of whom come into the race off stakes victories over sloppy surfaces.
Predicting the weather at this time of year in South Florida can be as tricky as picking the early pick five on any given day at Gulfstream Park. There is a 60 percent chance of rain in the forecast around the local area on Friday and 40 percent on Saturday for the 12-race Summit of Speed program, which also includes the $200,000, Grade 3 Smile Sprint.
Trainer Michael McCarthy is hoping for fast and firm footing at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday for Ce Ce, who has yet to run over a wet track of any kind in a dozen lifetime starts.
“She does not get along well with deeper, looser surfaces, those kind of racetracks are her Achilles’ heel,” said McCarthy, who sent City of Light to Gulfstream Park to win the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in 2019. “That was the case in her last start at Santa Anita in the Grade 2 Santa Maria, and last year, when she ran in the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar. If she gets it firm and fast, I think she’s as good as anybody. There’s supposed to be some rain down there the next few days and I think a wet-fast track would be really good for her too.”
Ce Ce was indeed as good as just about anybody when she posted back-to-back Grade 1 victories within a five-week span early in 2020. She won the Grade 1 Beholder Mile by a widening 3 1/4 lengths before returning to gut out a head decision over Ollie’s Candy in the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park. She opened the current campaign with a one-sided allowance triumph going seven furlongs on April 17 at Santa Anita before her disappointing performance in the Santa Maria.
“I think she’s probably best from seven furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth, but I think her mile-and-an-eighth race in the Breeders’ Cup was sneaky-good too,” said McCarthy. “She’s training great and I plan on her running well there Saturday.”
Ce Ce will carry high weight of 126 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Princess Rooney including Victor Espinoza, who has been aboard the daughter of Elusive Quality in 10 of her 12 lifetime starts, including for both Grade 1 wins.
Estilo Talentoso has gotten better with each successive start this season, finally becoming a graded stakes winner for the first time after splashing to a neck decision over Lake Avenue in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses last month at Belmont Park. Estilo Talentoso was Grade 1-placed twice prior to that performance, finishing second in the Madison at Keeneland and third behind odds-on favorite Gamine in the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs. Like the Princess Rooney, each of those races was decided at seven furlongs.
Although Estilo Talentoso will ship down from her Delaware Park base for the race, she is no stranger to Gulfstream Park, having started her career locally for trainer Juan Arriagada. She won a maiden race, also over a sloppy surface, one year ago as well as the Escena Stakes in her 3-year-old finale last August.
Laura’s Light has never run over a fast main track, although she handled the sloppy going extremely well in her most recent start in the off-the-turf Ouija Board Stakes at Lone Star, drawing off to a 4 3/4-length victory at a mile with jockey Florent Geroux aboard for the first time. The effort was strong enough to convince her connections to keep her on dirt to try her luck in the Princess Rooney. Laura’s Light is a three-time, graded stakes winner on turf, her most notable victory coming last summer in the Grade 2 San Clemente at Del Mar.
“She can do it all. She’s really a cool filly who tries hard and gives it her best every time, no matter what you put her on,” said trainer Peter Miller. “She’s never run the distance, but seven-eighths should be just fine. This race really wasn’t in our plans, but it’s a big purse, not a large field, and a Win and You’re In. So here we are.”
Geroux has the return call on Saturday.
Pacific Gale may not have relished the long delay or the wet going when she finished a tiring fourth after disputing a lively pace in the Bed o’ Roses. But she is obviously right at home at Gulfstream Park, where she captured both the Grade 2 Inside Information and Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie earlier this year.
A locally based quartet of stakes winners – Sound Machine, Heiressall, Thissmytime, and Hallawallah – complete the lineup.