After watching Dubai Majesty win the Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs last year, trainer Bret Calhoun felt confident that the Florida-bred would turn in another strong effort in the Princess Rooney Handicap, the lone Grade 1 event on the calendar at Calder Casino & Race Course.
Calhoun was left scratching his head after Dubai Majesty finished a distant seventh in the Princess Rooney, but an explanation quickly revealed itself. The daughter of Essence of Dubai had developed a severe throat and respiratory infection that the trainer said might have been partly attributable to the extreme heat and humidity in South Florida.
This year, Dubai Majesty comes into the Princess Rooney off another win in the Winning Colors, but this time, he believes the 5-year-old mare is coming into the race in fine form.
“We came here with a lot of confidence last year, and then that happened, and we were lucky to get her back after that bad infection,” Calhoun said. “She’s coming into the race good.”
Dubai Majesty, bred by Ocala’s Harold Plumley and owned by Martin Racing Stable and Dan Morgan, earned a career-high 100 Beyer Speed Figure while taking the Winning Colors by 4 ½ lengths May 31. She had won the 2009 edition by one length with a 94 Beyer.
“It was a pretty dominating performance, and it looked like she did it pretty easily,” Calhoun said of Dubai Majesty’s win in the 2010 Winning Colors.
The Princess Rooney covers the same six-furlong distance as the Winning Colors, and Dubai Majesty has excelled when running that far, with five wins and as many runner-up efforts in a dozen tries. She’s also 3-for-8 with two second-place finishes at Calder.
Dubai Majesty drew the No. 8 post in a field of 13 fillies and mares for the Princess Rooney and will have Miguel Mena aboard for the second straight race.
“I expected it to be strong field, but I’m a little surprised that there are that many in there,” Calhoun said. “But it’s kind of hard to find a Grade 1 sprint right now, and they’re giving away good money. I was just happy I drew a good post.”
Dubai Majesty has won nine of her 29 starts for $681,343, making her the richest horse in the field. But she faces a talented group featuring several runners who have earned big paychecks recently.
Among them is Hour Glass, a Todd Pletcher trainee who won the Vagrancy Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park in May; Dr. Zic, an OBS graduate who won the Vinery Madison Stakes (G1) on Keeneland’s synthetic surface in April for trainer Joan Scott; and Warbling, who won the Inside Information Stakes (G2) with a 107 Beyer at Gulfstream Park in March.
Other top contenders include Mother Ruth and First Passage. Mother Ruth won the $75,000 Valid Expectations Stakes with a 103 Beyer for trainer Bob Baffert at Lone Star Park in May. First Passage, who won the Azalea Stakes (G3) on last year’s Summit of Speed program at Calder, captured the local prep for the Rooney, the $50,000 U Can Do It Handicap, last month for trainer Marty Wolfson.
Saratoga Tango, Don’ttalktome and Florida-bred Saintly Rose, who finished second through fourth in the U Can Do It, also are entered in the Princess Rooney, as is Florida-bred Jessica Is Back, who finished third behind 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in the Fleur de Lis Handicap (G2) at Churchill last out.
Rounding out the field are Florida-bred Golden Mystery, Reachforthecastle and Nicky Boy.
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Reed Palmer Photo
