Beth’s Dream. (Lauren King)
Into Saturday’s $220,000 Princess Rooney
Soul of an Angel 8-5 Favorite for G3 ‘Win and You’re In’ Stakes
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Virginia Gamble’s Beth’s Dream is scheduled to step up back into graded-stakes company in Saturday’s $220,000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park. What better time for the 6-year-old mare to test the graded-stakes waters than when she is riding the wave of a four-race winning streak?
The Victor Barboza Jr. trainee, who finished off the board in the 2022 Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth in her only graded-stakes appearance, is slated to clash with Soul of an Angel, a mare with considerably more graded-stakes experience, in a field of 10 fillies and mares assembled for the seven-furlong stakes that has been designated as a ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup Challenge race.
The winner of the Princess Rooney will earn a fess-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
“At the end of last year, I told the owner the best thing for the mare was to send her to the farm. In January, I checked on her and she was good for the comeback to the track,” Barboza said. “Since she’s come back to the track, she’s been magnificent.”
Beth’s Dream, rated second at 9-5 on the morning line behind 8-5 favorite Soul of an Angel, has been nothing short of perfect since returning to action in March off a seven-month layoff. The daughter of Jess’s Dream started her impressive four-race winning streak by capturing an optional claiming allowance despite being under pressure throughout the mile run. She came back to score an off-the-pace 3 ¾-length triumph in the Mo’ Green Handicap before taking the My Pal Chrisy Handicap with a 2 ¾-length front-running victory
After winning three straight one-turn mile features, Beth’s Dream cut back to the seven-furlong Princess Rooney distance for the Sheer Drama Handicap. Carrying highweight of 125 pounds, she scored an impressive four-length victory under Emisael Jaramillo in her dress rehearsal for Saturday’s Grade 3 feature.
“For me, the filly is much better at the mile – one mile, one turn. I needed in the Sheer Drama to check on the mare for moving to the seven furlongs for the next time in the Princess Rooney,” Barboza said. “She was very impressive to me — the way she ran, the way she finished.”
Although Beth’s Dream is rated second-best on the morning line, Barboza isn’t looking to finish second in the Princess Rooney for a third time. The Venezuela native saddled back-to-back Princess Rooney runners-up – Distinta, who finished behind Curlin’s Approval in 2017, and Rich Mommy, who checked in behind Stormy Embrace in 2018,
“In the Princess Rooney, I have two seconds in the race. It’s important for me, my team, the owners. It’s my dream to win the Princess Rooney,” Barboza said.
Beth’s Dream will break from the far-outside No. 10 post position.
“I like her position in the race. Outside is good for me and Jaramillo,” Barboza said.
Barboza will also be represented by Skull Stable LLC’s Battle Cry, who finished fifth behind her stablemate in the My Pal Chrisy in her most recent start.
Battle Cry, who defeated Beth’s Dream over a sloppy track in August 2023, has finished first or second in 20 of 38 career starts.
Jaramillo has the return call on Beth’s Dream, while Leonel Reyes is scheduled to ride Battle Cry for the first time Saturday. Both Barboza-trained mares are eligible for $20,000 in bonus money offered by the FTBOA to all registered Florida-breds with $10,000 going to the winner, $6,000 to the runner-up and $4,000 to a third-place finisher.
C2 Racing Stable LLC and Agave Racing’s Soul of an Angel is set to make her seventh graded-stakes appearance Saturday. The 5-year-old daughter of Atreides achieved her first graded-stakes success in the May 4 Ruffian (G2) in her first start after being privately purchased and transferred to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. The Kentucky-bred mare rallied from off the pace before drawing clear by 4 ¾ lengths.
Soul of an Angel finished fifth in the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Saratoga in her second start for her new connections but came within a head of upsetting champion Idiomatic in the Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth Park in her next start. She finished a distant third in the Personal Ensign (G1) at Saratoga last time out.
“She’s a big grand mare who’s very sound and runs hard,” Joseph said. “We bought her to cut her back in distance, and then she won the Ruffian, which was a nice surprise, and we never got to run her one turn again. We tried her in the race at Saratoga. She ran off the board there. We ran her in the Molly Pitcher, and she ran so well, we tried it one more time. We’re very keen to cut her back. Ideally, we’d prefer a one-turn mile, but we’re interested in seeing how she runs at seven-eighths.”
Drayden Van Dyke is slated to ride Soul of an Angel for the first time in the Princess Rooney.
Joseph is also scheduled to be represented in the Princess Rooney field by Vegso Racing Stables Inc.’s Imonra, a Grade 3-placed daughter of Violence who will be equipped with blinkers for the first time.
“Hopefully, [blinkers] will help her get a little more into the race,” Joseph said. “She’s not impossible to win it.”
Joseph reported that Haulin Ice, his third entry, will not run.
Rodney Lundock’s Maryquitecontrary, who raced in traffic before finishing second behind Beth’s Dream in the Sheer Drama, is rated third at 6-1 on the morning line for the Princess Rooney, which she came within a half length of winning last year while finishing second behind Three Witches. The 4-year-old daughter of First Dude went on to defend her title in the Rampart to open the 2023-2024 Championship Meet at Gulfstream.
Maryquitecontrary, who won the 2023 Inside Information (G2) before finishing second in the Madison (G1) at Keeneland, has gone winless in her last five starts while finishing on the board in four of those races.
Edgard Zayas has the call on the Eddie Plesa Jr. trainee.
Abel Rangel’s Pacholli, a Group 1 winner in Peru, is scheduled to make her U.S. debut in the Princess Rooney for trainer Hernan Parra. The 6-year-old mare has been idle since finishing far back in the Godolphin Mile (G2) March 30 in Dubai.
Stakes-placed during the Royal Palm Meet, CJ Thoroughbreds and RAF Productions’ Cousin Kristi enters the Princess Rooney off a front-running victory in an optional claiming allowance for New York-breds at Saratoga.
California Racing Partners’ Unsolved Mystery and Gandolfi Stables and El Herraje LLC’s Gallop d’Hermes, both of whom are coming off optional claiming allowance victories, round out the field.
