HALLANDALE BEACH - Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will attempt to win his fourth consecutive Gr. III Princess Rooney Saturday at Gulfstream Park when he saddles three fillies in the seven-furlong $225,000 event, a ‘Win and You’re In” for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland Oct. 31. 

    Joseph, who has won an unprecedented 16 consecutive conditioning titles at Gulfstream, will saddle three of the seven fillies entered. The field also includes California-based runners Simply Joking and No Bad Beats. Trainer Michael McCarthy, trainer of Simply Joking, returns to Gulfstream having saddled Ce Ce to consecutive victories in the Princess Rooney in 2021 and 2022. 

    The Princess Rooney is one of three stakes Saturday at Gulfstream along with the $100,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint and $100,000 Ginger Punch Handicap. The 10-race program begins at 12:20.  

    Joseph has saddled the three most recent Princess Rooney winners in Haulin Ice (2025), Soul of an Angel (2024) and Three Witches (2023). Three Witches finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Santa Anita while Soul of an Angel won the Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar.

       In Saturday’s Princess Rooney Joseph saddles Anakarina, Indy Bay and Kerry’s Kiss. Anakarina enters the race off a victory in the Love Sign Stakes at Colonial Downs July 25. Indy Bay won the Gr. II Charles Town Oaks in 2025 and enters off a pair of second-place finishes at Gulfstream in the Sheer Drama and Musical Romance behind stablemate Kerry’s Kiss. 

       McCarthy, who also saddled multiple Gr. 1 winner City of Light to victory here in the 2019 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, entered Simply Joking, third Aug. 1 in the Gr. I Clement Hirsch at Del Mar and second in the Gr. II Santa Margarita in May at Santa Anita. The filly won the Gr. III Santa Maria at Santa Anita in April.

      No Bad Beats is also entered in the Princess Rooney. The California-based filly trained by Leonard Powell finished second in January in the Gr. III Las Flores at Santa Anita. She enters the race off an allowance optional claiming victory at Del Mar Aug. 9 off a six-month layoff.

     Others entered include Just a Philly, trained by Herbert Miller, who was third in the Sheer Drama and Musical Romance, and  Bombacha Veloz, who makes her first start in the U.S. for trainer Amador Sanchez after winning five of nine starts in Chile. 

     The Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint at five furlongs, named after the popular and innovative late racing secretary, drew a field of nine. Trainer Joe Orseno entered three including Rezasrolex, a winner of 15 of 23 starts including nine consecutive starts last year. The 5-year-old gelding won the Pay Any Price at Gulfstream July 5 before shipping to Saratoga and finishing eighth in the Gr. II Troy. Joseph will send out Thought Control, an impressive winner on the turf at Gulfstream when he last raced in May.

     A field of 10 fillies and mares entered the Ginger Punch, a mile turf event, including the versatile Fantasy Performer for multiple stakes-winning trainer and Kentucky Derby winner Cam Gambolati. comments powered by Disqus