The Challenge: Filly and Mare Sprinters in BC Spotlight

Following a week with eight races as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, some of them hosted internationally, just a single qualifier is scheduled this weekend: the Sept. 21 Princess Rooney Stakes (G3) from Gulfstream Park.

Its winner will earn a paid, automatic berth into the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), which like the Princess Rooney, is at seven furlongs on dirt. This year's Breeders' Cup is at Del Mar in Southern California.

The Princess Rooney, named after the Hall of Fame filly, is currently a grade 3, having been downgraded from its heyday at defunct Calder Race Course when it was contested as a grade 1 from 2006-13 during that track's popular Summit of Speed program. It moved to Gulfstream Park as a grade 2 in 2015 and remained a grade 2 until last year when the American Graded Stakes Committee dropped it one additional grade after Gulfstream moved it from a summer date to early October.

When Ce Ce  pulled off the Princess Rooney-Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint double in 2021, the Michael McCarthy trainee shipped from Southern California to race in Florida in July, then ran third in the Ballerina Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and later won the Chillingworth Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.

She followed the same schedule in 2022, only she ran fifth in the Ballerina after taking the Princess Rooney and again took the Chillingworth. That year, she ran fourth in her career finale in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Last year's Princess Rooney winner, late-developing Three Witches , proved competitive in grade 1 company the 2023 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita, finishing third behind Goodnight Olive  and Yuugiri .

This year, the Princess Rooney is being contested two weeks earlier than last year, with a field filled largely with Florida-based runners, though some raced in the Northeast during the summer months.

Saffie Joseph Jr., who won the Princess Rooney last year with Three Witches, takes two chances in this year's race with Imonra  and Soul of an Angel . A third entry, Haulin Ice , will not run.

C2 Racing Stable and Agave Racing Stables's Soul of an Angel, exits demanding stakes company—having faced the likes of Randomized , Idiomatic , and Raging Sea  in her last four starts. A longtime router, she sprints seven furlongs for the first time after running a well-beaten third in the 1 1/8-mile Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. Winner of the one-turn Ruffian Stakes (G2) earlier this year at a mile over Randomized, she also came within a head of champion Idiomatic this summer in the 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park.

Virginia Gamble's Beth's Dream , riding a four-race win streak for trainer Victor Barboza Jr., is the main danger to Soul of an Angel, breaking from the far outside in the field of 10.

"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," trainer Barboza said.

Presque Isle Masters Has Breeders' Cup History

Although the Princess Rooney is the only official Breeders' Cup Challenge race this week, another major sprint for fillies and mares has the potential to advance horses toward the Breeders' Cup—although more likely the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) than the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The $300,000 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes (G2) Sept. 20 at Presque Isle Downs at 6 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta lured a solid field, but not one of the nine entrants has a single win on dirt. The field is comprised of synthetic specialists or dual turf and synthetic performers.

Some past Masters winners have experienced Breeders' Cup success, led by Groupie Doll , who won the Masters in 2012-13 and the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on dirt those same years.

Musical Romance  won both races in 2011, as did Informed Decision  in 2009. However, the latter's Breeders' Cup victory at Santa Anita that fall came when that Southern California track had a synthetic surface. Musical Romance won on dirt at the Breeders' Cup.

Groupie Doll, Musical Romance, and Informed Decision all became divisional Eclipse champions.

Favored at 9-5 on the morning line for Friday's race is Cheyenne Stable and John O'Meara's Roses for Debra , who won three races over the Presque Isle surface earlier in her career before developing into a graded stakes-winning grass sprinter for trainer Christophe Clement. She ran ninth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint against males last year at Santa Anita.

The projected second choice at 5-2 is West Point Thoroughbreds, Chris Larsen, and Titletown Racing Stables' Gal in a Rush , also trained by Clement. She won the Hendrie Stakes (G3) on Tapeta at the 6 1/2-furlong distance of the Masters two starts ago at Woodbine.

Roses for Debra and Gal in a Rush are co-high weights at 125 pounds, spotting their foes between 5-11 pounds.