Medina Spirit, Rombauer Head Haskell Nominations
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Friday • July 2, 2021 FEC/FTBOA PUBLICATION www.wiretowire.net FLORIDA’SDAILYRACINGDIGEST FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION or to subscribe, please call Antoinette at 352-732-8858 or email: [email protected] In This Issue: Ce Ce Ventures East for Princess Rooney Happy Saver and Mystic Guide Renew Rivalry in G2 Suburban Accomplished Field Gives Graded-Stakes Feel to Saturday’s Perfect Sting Chance It ‘Dressed Up and Ready’ for Saturday’s 200k Smile Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout Scheduled for July 4 Holiday Program Florida-bred Medina Spirit/COADY PHOTO Gulfstream Park Charts Tampa Bay Charts Medina Spirit, Rombauer Track Results & Entries Florida Stallion Progeny List Head Haskell Nominations Florida Breeders’ List BY MONMOUTH PARK Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Baffert, Wire to Wire Business Place PRESS OFFICE ___________________ has not raced since winning the Kentucky Derby on May 1. Prior to the Derby, OCEANPORT, N.J. – Kentucky Derby pre- Medina Spirit was second to Rock Your Featured sented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1)- World in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winning Florida-bred Medina Spirit, (G1) and second to stablemate Life is Advertisers Preakness (G1)-winner Rombauer and the Good in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, Big Lick runners-up from all three Triple Crown also at Santa Anita, on March 6. races top the list of 16 nominations to the Medina Spirit is owned by Amr Equistaff Inc. $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) Zendan’s Zendan Racing Stables and the Florida Department of Agriculture to be run July 17 at Monmouth Park, it was son of Protonico was bred by Gail Rice. announced Wednesday by racing secretary Baffert has won the Haskell a record FTBOA John Heims and stakes coordinator Dove nine times. FTFM Annual Charity Items Ward. Rombauer finished third behind winner and Services Auction The Haskell Stakes is a “Win And Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes You’re In” race for the Grade 1 Longines presented by NYRA Bets (G1) after Ocala Breeders’ Feed & Supply Breeders’ Cup Classic to be run Nov. 6 at pulling off a mild surprise in the Preakness Seminole Feed Del Mar. See HASKELL on page 3 Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 3 Haskell Continued from COVER by winning at odds of 11-1. Michael McCarthy trains the Kentucky-bred son of Twirling Candy. The connections of Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun, Preakness runner-up Midnight Bourbon and Belmont Stakes run- ner-up Hot Rod Charlie have all indicated they are strongly con- sidering the Haskell Stakes, as are the connections of Rombauer, according to Heims. Mandaloun prepped for Monmouth Park’s showcase event by winning the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at the track on June 13. TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2)- winner Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby, waged an epic stretch battle with Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes before grudgingly giving way late and finishing sec- ond. The Haskell Stakes, at a mile-and-an-eighth, headlines a card that includes the Grade 1 United Nations at a mile- and-three-eighths on the grass. The United Nations closed with 22 nominations. There are three other graded stakes races on the Haskell undercard. Rombauer/MATT WOOLEU / EQUISPORT PHOTO Florida-breds Make Florida Racing Did you know Florida-bred thoroughbreds won 31.5% of races run at the recent Gulfstream Park Championship Meet? This demonstrates how vital Florida-breds are to the success of Gulfstream Park throughout the year—not just during the Spring/Summer season. Additional good news for Florida breeders—66% of those Florida-bred winners during the Gulfstream Park Championship Meet were sired by Florida stallions. Florida-breds: Race ‘Em or Chase ‘Em! Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 5 Ce Ce Ventures East for Princess Rooney Ce Ce/COADY PHOTO GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS RELEASE_________________ HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Michael McCarthy has sent Ce Ce on a cross-country journey to Gulfstream Park on a quest to snag the biggest prize of the Spring/Summer Meet in Saturday’s $350,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (G2). The Southern California-based trainer has a history of big-race success at the Hallandale Beach track, having claimed the Championship Meet’s richest event with City of Light’s score in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in 2019. “City of Light’s win in the Pegasus was a nice introduction to Gulfstream,” McCarthy said. “We came back to Gulfstream for the Pegasus this year with Independence Hall, who I thought ran a very good third. It’s a racetrack we’ve performed well at. We’re obviously expecting more of the same this weekend.” The Princess Rooney, a seven-furlong ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race for fillies and mares, will headline Saturday’s Summit of Speed program that will also fea- ture the $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3), a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up. Ce Ce, 3-1 in the morning-line in a field of eight fillies and mares in the Princess Rooney, is a two-time Grade 1 stakes win- ner. The 5-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality scored back-to- back victories in the Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita and the Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn last year. Although Bo Hirsch LLC’s home-bred mare’s greatest successes have achieved in two- turn races, McCarthy said he was confident that she was ready for Saturday’s one-turn challenge. “I thought the seven-eighths would be a wonderful distance for her. It looks like there might be some rain down there this week, and I think she might like a wet-fast racetrack,” said McCarthy, who had considered the mile-and-a-sixteenth Ogden Phipps (G1) on the June 5 Belmont Stakes (G1) undercard. Ce Ce concluded her 2021 campaign with a fifth-place finish behind Monomoy Girl following an extremely wide trip in the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland. The Kentucky- See PRINCESS ROONEY on page 7 Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 7 Princess Rooney Continued from page 3 bred mare came back five-months later to capture a seven-furlong Gulfstream Park track, over which she will seek her third victory optional claiming allowance at Santa Anita by three-and-a-quarter and second stakes success. The Juan Arriagada-trained 4-year-old lengths. She went back to two-turns in the Santa Maria, in which daughter of Maclean’s Music was Grade 1 stakes-placed twice this she bobbled at the start and faded to fourth. year prior to her first graded-stakes win at Belmont. “She had a nice little break after the Breeders’ Cup – I thought Javier Castellano will return to South Florida, where his Hall of her race in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff was sneaky good,” said Fame career in the U.S. began in 1997, for the riding assignment McCarthy, a former long-time assistant to Todd Pletcher before on Estilo Talentoso, the 5-2 morning-line favorite. going on his own in 2014. “It was always our plan to give her some Gary Barber’s Laura’s Light (7-2), a Grade 2 stakes winner on time off. She’s come back good. These racetracks in California turf, will also represent Southern California in the Princess have gotten deeper and gotten looser. They don’t seem to suit her.” Rooney. The 4-year-old daughter of Constitution, who is trained Ce Ce arrived at Gulfstream Tuesday evening. McCarthy has by Peter Miller, is coming off a victory in the off-the-turf Ouija “deputized” Ralph Nicks to oversee her training and saddle her for Board Stakes at Lone Star Park. the Princess Rooney in his absence. Florent Geroux, who guided Gun Runner to a victory in the $16 Victor Espinoza, who rode American Pharoah for a sweep of million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in 2018, has the the 2015 Triple Crown, will venture from Southern California to mount. ride. e Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ Sound Machine (12-1), who fin- Gulfstream Park has also been a friendly venue for Holly Hill ished second behind Pacific Gale in the Hurricane Bertie and won Stables LLC’s Pacific Gale, who captured the Inside Information the seven-furlong Musical Romance for Florida-bred fillies and (G2) and Hurricane Bertie (G3) during the 2020-2021 mares last time out; and Windylea Farm LLC’s Thissmytime, who Championship Meet. The John Kimmel-trained daughter of Flat finished second behind Pacific Gale in the Inside Information, are Out is scheduled to return to Gulfstream from New York to regain among the most accomplished South Florida-based fillies and her winning form. The 6-year-old mare has finished third in the mares entered in the Princess Rooney. Vagrancy (G3) and fourth in the Bed o’ Roses (G3) at Belmont My Purple Haze Stables Inc’s Heiressall (20-1) and Al Rashid since leaving South Florida. Stables LLC’s Hallawallah (20-1) will be the other South Florida- Romero Maragh has the call on Pacific Gale (4-1). based Princess Rooney entrants. Medallion Racing and partners’ Estilo Talentoso, who captured Sound Machine, Thissmytime and Heiressall are eligible for a the June 4 Bed o’ Roses last time out, also has a fondness for the $25,000 ‘Win Only’ bonus available to Florida-breds. Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 8 Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 9 Happy Saver and Mystic Guide Renew Rivalry in G2 Suburban BY KEITH MCCALMONT, Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile-winner Battle of Midway.