O'Connell looking for Princess Rooney, Smile Sprint double

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – To say Kathleen O’Connell is looking forward to Saturday’s Summit of Speed program at Gulfstream Park more than most would be an understatement. Not only will the trainer be sending out the likely favorites in the two main events, Stormy Embrace in the $250,000 Princess Rooney and Jalen Journey in the $250,000 Smile, she is also eagerly anticipating the return of two of her top 3-year-olds Well Defined and Blazing Brooke in the Carry Back and Azalea earlier in the day.

The 14-race Summit of Speed card, which includes five stakes, will begin at a special post time of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The Princess Rooney is for fillies and mares going seven furlongs, while the Smile Sprint is for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs.

Stormy Embrace was an easy winner of the 2018 Princess Rooney and should be heavily favored to defend that title while seeking a second straight berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. The Grade 2 Princess Rooney is the only Win and You’re In race on the Gulfstream Park stakes calendar.

“She’s certainly doing as well as she did coming into the race last year,” said O’Connell, who trains Stormy Embrace for Metalona Thoroughbreds Inc. “She’s always been a model of consistency. Her only really bad race came in the Breeders’ Cup, but she never really had a fair chance that day after drawing an outside post and considering the way the race unfolded.”

Stormy Embrace has run just twice this season, finishing third in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie on Jan. 26 before prepping for the Princess Rooney with a 10 1/2-length triumph in the Musical Romance Stakes on May 18. She missed one other prospective start this spring due to illness.

“Her last race might have been her best yet, and it’s the way you want to come into a big event like this, off an impressive but easy win rather than a gut-wrenching effort that might take too much out of a horse,” said O’Connell. “She’s doing great, and I expect another big effort out of her on Saturday.”

Jalen Journey has come a long way in a short time for O’Connell, having won his three starts this season by a combined 17 1/4 lengths while posting Beyer Speed Figures of 98 and 99 in his last two appearances, going seven furlongs and one mile.

“I’m not big on turning a horse back in distance, and I think with his long, effortless stride, going two turns is ultimately what he’ll be best at,” said O’Connell. “But the Smile is here, it’s a lot of money, and it’s something the owner really wanted to try, so we’re going to do it.”

Even scarier for his opponents is that O’Connell thinks Jalen Journey, owned by Commonwealth Stable, hasn’t come close to reaching his full potential yet.

“He’s still learning, still not completely focused, still inexperienced,” said O’Connell. “I really don’t think we’ve seen the best of this horse yet.”

O’Connell is one of three trainers with starters in both the Princess Rooney and Smile, along with Mike Stidham and Patrick Biancone.

Stidham will counter Stormy Embrace in the Princess Rooney with Saguaro Row while sending out Proforma against Jalen Journey in the Smile. Saguaro Row and Proforma are the only two horses shipping in from out of town for the Summit of Speed.

Saguaro Row has won her last two starts, allowance races at Keeneland and Belmont Park, by the same margin of 1 3/4 lengths, with both those races decided at six furlongs.

“The key to her right now is letting her do what she does best, and that’s sprinting,” said Stidham.

Proforma is a stakes winner and a “model of consistency,” according to Stidham. He enters the Smile off three consecutive stakes placings, including a second-place effort behind New York Central in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint at Pimlico in his last outing.

Biancone has Razorback Lady for the Princess Rooney and Diamond Oops in the Smile. Julien Leparoux will be in town to ride both.

Diamond Oops is switching back to dirt off a fifth-place finish behind winner World of Trouble on turf in the Grade 1 Jaipur.

Razorback Lady was upset by the 3-year-old Trenchtown Cat, another member of the Princess Rooney field, as the odds-on favorite in the Ana T. coming off her second-place finish in the Grade 2 Inside Information nine weeks earlier.

“I thought she might have needed the race last time, that’s all,” said Biancone. “The Princess Rooney is the race we’ve had in mind as our goal for her all along, so I feel it was a very good prep for her even though she did not win. She’s ready, and Julien will be here this time. He knows her very well.”

Outsiders Royal Asscher, Reagan’s Rose, and Weekend Mischief fill out the field for the Princess Rooney, while Cautious Giant, Royal Squeeze, Fast Pass, and the 3-year-old Garter and Tie complete the lineup for the Smile.