BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL—Graded-stakes winners Maryquitecontrary and Caramel Swirl; and R Adios Jersey, a four-time stakes winner in her native Florida, top a dozen horses on the main list for the $200,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (Grade 3) to be run Saturday, Oct. 7 at Gulfstream Park.

The seven-furlong Princess Rooney for fillies and mares 3-years-old and older is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (Grade 1) to be run Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Rodney Lundock’s Florida homebred Maryquitecontrary, seventh in the Ballerina, has been right at home at Gulfstream with six wins and a second from seven career tries. The 4-year-old daughter of Double Diamond Farm stallion First Dude put together a five-race win streak starting last summer that included wins in the one-mile Rampart on the final day of 2022 and the Grade 2 Inside Information at seven furlongs on Jan. 28. Her streak was snapped when she ran second to Goodnight Olive in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland on April 8.

Godolphin homebred Caramel Swirl, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, won the Grade 3 Vagrancy going six-and-a-half furlongs on May 14 at Belmont Park in just her second start in nearly nine months. The 5-year-old Union Rags mare won the Grade 2 Lexus Raven Run in 2021 and was second to champion Goodnight Olive in the Grade 1 Ballerina last summer, a race where she had her most recent start, finishing fourth behind another champion in Echo Zulu Aug. 26.

Averill Racing, ATM Racing and Jayson Werth’s Florida-bred star R Adios Jersey exits a front-running, six-and-a-half-length triumph in the seven-furlong Sheer Drama Aug. 19 at Gulfstream, where she has a record of four wins, two seconds and two thirds from 10 starts. Fourth in the Inside Information, the 5-year-old daughter of Ocala Stud stallion Adios Charlie marehas also registered three state-bred stakes wins at Tampa Bay Downs, the most recent coming in the seven-furlong FTBOA City of Ocala last December.

Also among the main invitees are Beth’s Dream, a Florida-bred winner of the one-mile Heavenly Cause April 15 at Laurel Park that is four-for-seveb lifetime at Gulfstream; Florida-bred Flakes, winner of Gulfstream’s six-and-a-half-furlong Game Face June 17; stakes-winner Funny How, second to Mommasgottarun in the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap in April at Aqueduct; Last Leaf, a four-time stakes winner at Gulfstream that is twice Grade 3-placed; and Chilean Group 2 winner Yuki.

Four horses are on the reserve list of invitations including Florida-bred Flag Woman, by Bridlewood stallion Chitu; and Into Happiness, both riding three-race win streaks, and Miss New York, winner of the July 2 Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park.

The Princess Rooney was won the past two years by Ce Ce, who used her 2021 victory as a springboard to victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and the Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter. Recent Florida-bred winners of the Princess Rooney include Stormy Embrace (2018-’19), Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Musical Romance (2012) and Jessica is Back (2010). Others Florida-bred winners include U Can Do It (1998), Chaposa Springs (1996), Miss Gibson County (1995), Magal (1991-’92), Sweet Proud Polly (1990), Ana T. (1989), Spirit of Fighter (1988), Classy Tricks (1986-’87) and Birdie Belle (1985).

Run at Calder Race Course from 1983 to 2013 before being relocated to Gulfstream, the Princess Rooney honors the 1984 champion older female and 1991 inductee into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame that won 17 of 21 career starts and more than $1.3 million in purses from 1982-84. Five of her wins came in Grade 1 stakes – the 1982 Frizette, 1983 Kentucky Oaks and 1984 Vanity, Spinster and Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

$200,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (Grade 3) List

 

Beth’s Dream

Bluefield

Caramel Swirl

Dr B

Flakes

Funny How

Last Leaf

Maryquitecontrary

Olivia Darling

Poiema

R Adios Jersey

Yuki (CHI)

 

Reserve Invitees in Alphabetical Order

Flag Woman

Into Happiness

Miss New York

Three Witches

Return to Sept. 23 issue of Wire to Wire