Distance Key to Soul of an Angel's Championship Season

Soul of an Angel  made only two of her 11 starts last year at seven furlongs, but she made those races count. She won both outings, including the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1), to vault to championship honors as the Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter of 2024.

Although capable of challenging some of North America's best in two-turn routes—such as when second, beaten a head by champion Idiomatic  in the 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) July 20 at Monmouth Park—her connections opted to run her in shorter races late in the season, believing such races were her calling.

They were correct. Cut back from 1 1/8 miles when third in the Aug. 23 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course to race seven furlongs in the Sept. 21 Princess Rooney Invitational Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, she closed from last in a field of nine to score by 3 1/4 lengths. Beyond the $120,000 prize for first place in the Princess Rooney, she earned a paid, automatic berth in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar via the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.

Matched against the cream of the division in the Breeders' Cup, she would be overlooked by the betting public at odds of more than 19-1. But those with faith in her were rewarded when she swooped from last to record a half-length victory under Drayden Van Dyke. Bolstered by a hotly contested pace that played to her strong finishing style, she was timed in 1:21.59 for the distance.

"Thankfully the race wasn't a quarter of a mile. It's seven-eighths, " said co-owner Mark Martinez of Agave Racing Stable.

She earned a payday of $520,000 for Agave Racing Stable and fellow partners C2 Racing Stable and Ken Reimer.

Following a private purchase in March, she was transferred to the barn of Saffie Joseph Jr., who trained her to an initial win in the one-mile Ruffian Stakes (G2) on May 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack. At a Breeders' Cup press conference, Joseph credited the ownership partners, including Mark Cornett of C2 Racing Stable, for their persistence in purchasing Soul of an Angel after a deal did not initially materialize.

"He said we're buying a one-turn horse," Joseph recalled.

Soul of an Angel's only defeat in four one-turn races in 2024 came in her final start of the year when a dawdling pace in the one-mile Rampart Stakes Dec. 26 at Gulfstream proved too much to overcome. Her rally fell a neck short in finishing a close third.

An Atreides  mare, Soul of an Angel, now age 6, was bred in Kentucky by Westbrook Stables out of Factor One , a daughter of The Factor  . A veteran campaigner with 42 career starts, Soul of an Angel had her most productive campaign in 2024 by recording a 4-2-2 record  in 11 starts and making $1,002,600.