Maryquitecontrary, Caramel Swirl invited to Princess Rooney
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Graded stakes winners Maryquitecontrary and Caramel Swirl top a list of 12 fillies and mares who have been invited to participate in the $200,000 Princess Rooney Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Oct. 7. The seven-furlong, Grade 3 Princess Rooney is a “Win and You’re In” automatic qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on November 4.
Caramel Swirl, a Godolphin homebred, won the Grade 3 Raven Run as a 3-year-old in 2021 and the Grade 3 Vagrancy at Belmont Park earlier this season. She is coming off a fourth place finish behind Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 26.
Maryquitecontrary has returned home after a pair of disappointing tries this summer at Saratoga where she finished a distant fourth in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss and seventh, beaten 17 lengths, in the Ballerina. Maryquitecontrary, a Rodney Lundock homebred, opened her career with six victories in seven starts, all those races at Gulfstream Park, where she captured the Grade 3 Inside Information going seven furlongs in impressive fashion on January 28. She also finished second in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland shortly after joining trainer Shug McGaughey’s barn during the spring.
Maryquitecontrary looked sharp prepping for the Princess Rooney here on Monday, breezing an easy half-mile in 47.70 seconds, her final quarter in 23.47, before galloping out five-eighths in 1:00.88 and easing up after three-quarters in 1:14.38 per Daily Racing Form.
The speedy R Adios Jersey is a multiple stakes winner who has not started since proving a popular and one-sided winner of the Sheer Drama Stakes for Florida-breds here on Aug 19. She too is coming off a sharp work in preparation for the Princess Rooney, a bullet five panels in 59.25 here last Friday.
Funny How had a five race win streak snapped when second in the Grade 3 Distaff at Aqueduct during the spring but has been idle since checking home a well beaten fifth behind Caramel Swirl in the Vagrancy on May 14.
Others invited to the Princess Rooney include Beth’s Dream, Flakes, Last Leaf, Yuki, Bluefield, Dr B, Olivia Darling, and Poiema. Four horses were also selected for a reserve list that consists of Flag Woman, Into Happiness, Miss New York, and Three Witches.
The Princess Rooney had its inaugural running at Calder Race Course in 1983 and was decided there until 2013 before being relocated to Gulfstream Park. The Princess Rooney, which had traditionally been decided as part of the Summit of Speed program on July 4th weekend before being moved to the fall for the first time this season, has been won each of the last two years by Ce Ce, who used her victory in 2021 as a springboard to capturing the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and ultimately being named the Eclipse Award winner as champion female sprinter that year.
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