McCarthy, Joseph following familiar path to Breeders' Cup in Princess Rooney
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Trainers Michael McCarthy and Saffie Joseph Jr. have already successfully pulled off the Princess Rooney-Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint double. Both will attempt to accomplish that feat once again this season beginning Saturday at Gulfstream Park as they send out the leading contenders in this year’s renewal of the Grade 3, $225,000 Princess Rooney Stakes.
The seven-furlong Princess Rooney, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race for the Filly and Mare Sprint, attracted a field of seven starters, topped by McCarthy’s multiple Grade 1-placed Simply Joking and Joseph’s trio of Kerry’s Kiss, Indy Bay, and Anakarina. The remainder of the lineup includes Just a Philly, the Chilean-bred Bombacha Veloz, and No Bad Beats, who, like Simply Joking, will ship cross-country from Del Mar for the race.
Simply Joking is the class of the field, having made her last nine starts against graded stakes competition, the majority of those outings having come at distances ranging from a mile to 1 1/8 miles. She did shorten up to finish third going seven furlongs in the Grade 1 La Brea at Santa Anita in her 2025 finale and most recently was third after contesting a strong pace going 1 1/16 miles last month at Del Mar in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch. The Hirsch was won by Joseph with Eunomia.
McCarthy will be repeating a strategy with Simply Joking that he first tried five years earlier when he shipped Ce Ce from California to South Florida to win the 2021 Princess Rooney as a prelude to her 2 1/2-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint four months later back on the West Coast at Del Mar. Ce Ce returned to Gulfstream Park the following summer to successfully defend her title in the Princess Rooney but could do no better than finish fourth when trying to repeat in the Filly and Mare Sprint that fall at Keeneland.
“Same type of idea bringing this filly here that we had with Ce Ce,” McCarthy said. “The race stands on its own merit, it’s at seven furlongs and it’s a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup.
“From a class standpoint, I think she’s a standout in this field. It looks like there is some speed both inside of us and outside us, so she should be able to work out a good trip and I’m not worried about the turnback to seven furlongs. She seems capable of handling it.”
Joseph has won the Princess Rooney each of the last three years, including the 2024 edition with Soul of an Angel, who then rallied from last, a dozen lengths off the lead, to upset the Filly and Mare Sprint at odds of 19-1 10 weeks later at Del Mar.
Unlike the late-running Soul of an Angel, Joseph’s current crop of talented fillies all possess a good turn of early foot and figure to be forwardly placed, if not on the lead, in the Princess Rooney.
Kerry’s Kiss and Indy Bay finished first and second, respectively, in both the Musical Romance and Sheer Drama stakes in their last two starts. Kerry’s Kiss led at every call in both races, with her stablemate stalking from the outset and ultimately proving no match on each occasion.
Kerry’s Kiss was purchased privately and turned over to Joseph following a two-turn allowance win last spring at Oaklawn Park and has gotten even better after shortening up in distance undergoing an equipment change upon changing barns.
“We put an extended blinker on her and she’s showed a lot of speed, which she’s been able to carry very well on the cutback in distance,” Joseph explained. “And if she runs the same kind of race she’s been running, she should be very competitive again.”
Joseph admitted he believed Indy Bay could exact a little revenge on Kerry’s Kiss when the pair squared off for a second time in the Sheer Drama.
“I thought Indy Bay might turn the tables the last time they met with the weight adjustment in her favor, but Kerry was lone speed that day, which might not be the case this time,” Joseph acknowledged.
In fact, Joseph believes if Anakarina breaks alertly from the rail, she could prove the one to catch coming off a hard-fought, gate-to-wire tally in the six-furlong Love Sign Stakes earlier this summer at Colonial Downs. The key question for her is the added distance as she’s yet to start beyond six furlongs in her 19-race career.
Trainer Leonard Powell is hoping No Bad Beats will return quick dividends off the claim after being claimed for $50,000 out of an impressive 3 3/4-length victory last month at Del Mar for which she earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure.
No Bad Beats was Grade 3-placed for her former connections earlier this year, having finished second in the Las Flores Stakes going six furlongs at Santa Anita. She is another who will have to prove her ability to handle the stretch to seven furlongs on Saturday.
Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint
The $100,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint and $100,000 Ginger Punch Handicap, for fillies and mares going a mile on the grass, will support Saturday’s excellent card.
The Umphrey, to be run at five furlongs, has attracted a well-matched field that includes Joseph’s once-beaten Thought Control, who is a half-brother to sprint division leader Englishman. Thought Control is a relatively inexperienced but speedy 4-year-old who looms a key contender despite taking a big step up in class and having been idle since his spectacular turf debut, a 3 1/4-length allowance win for which he earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure on May 10.
Thought Control has never been headed at the first two calls in any of his previous four starts. He figures to get a stiff challenge for the lead in this spot from the likes of Rouki, Itza Boss, Sunna, Esperon, and possibly Rezasrolex, one of three horses trainer Joe Orseno entered in the Umphrey along with Mattingly and Extendo.
Ginger Punch
The Ginger Punch is led by highweights Fantasy Performer (123 pounds) and Miss Mary Nell (122), who finished first and third, respectively, in an overnight handicap decided at a mile on the grass Aug. 16. Fantasy Performer rallied from last off an extremely lively pace to narrowly defeat Little Jamie, who flattered the effort by returning to capture a high-priced optional-claiming and allowance race at Kentucky Downs just 18 days later.
As is the case in the Princess Rooney, Joseph has entered three fillies in the Ginger Punch – City Minute, Hello Hello Hello, and the lightly raced Barakah, who will be stepping up to stakes competition, if she runs, off a maiden win in her only previous start.
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