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Champion female sprinter Musical Romance endured a tough beat in last year's
Grade 1
Princess Rooney Handicap
when nabbed at the wire by Sassy Image, who rallied from far back while racing
near the outer rail. The Bill Kaplan
trainee will be favored to make amends in Saturday's renewal of the $400,000
dash over six furlongs at Calder, the highlight of the Miami track's annual
Summit of Speed. Musical Romance has had mixed success since her championship clinching win in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last November. She rebounded from a rough-trip fourth in the Florida Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint to register her first win at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 2 Inside Information on March 17, but subsequently proved no match for Groupie Doll in the Grade 1 Madison and Grade 1 Humana Distaff, losing by margins of more than seven lengths each time. Grade 2 veteran Nicole H, a hard-luck second in last month's Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap after taking a brief lead in deep stretch, is Musical Romance's most accomplished rival. The five-year-old won a pair of stakes during the Aqueduct inner dirt meet this past winter, but has fallen short in her last four starts. In addition to the Vagrancy, the mare also endured a close beat in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap after enjoying a three-length lead with a furlong to go. |
Bouquet Booth, a six-length allowance winner at Churchill Downs last time after adding blinkers, seeks her first stakes win since February 2011 when she captured the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. The Steve Margolis trainee was previously a Grade 3 winner at two.
Trainer Marty Wolfson has entered five of the 11 Princess Rooney starters, including last year's third-place finisher Indulgence.
Trinniberg, a dominating winner of the Grade 2 Woody Stephens, Grade 3 Bay Shore and Grade 3 Swale this term, was cross-entered to both the Grade 2, $400,000 Smile Sprint Handicap and the Grade 3, $150,000 Carry Back for three-year-olds, both at six furlongs.
The Smile Sprint would surely be the more challenging of the two spots for Trinniberg as it would be his first outing against older horses. Scheduled to line up in the Smile Sprint are former Canadian champion Field Commission, a 3 1/4-length winner of the June 9 Ponche Handicap off an 18-month layoff; Grade 3 winners Apriority and Indiano; and Gantry, who swept three sprint stakes at Fair Grounds last winter and was most recently third in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs.
Trinniberg would be an overwhelming favorite in the Carry Back, which also attracted five-time stakes hero Fort Loudon and Hello Prince, who ran second to Trinniberg in the March 10 Swale.
The Grade 3, $150,000 Azalea over six furlongs features nine three-year-old fillies. Topping the field are Another Romance and Citizen Advocate, who were separated by a neck in the June 9 Leave Me Alone over the track and trip.
Saturday's program also features two $100,000 stakes on grass, the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint at five furlongs and the Hollywood Wildcat for older fillies and mares at 7 1/2 furlongs.
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