Soul of an Angel needs to come up with the heart of a sprinter again when the 5-year-old mare takes on nine rivals in the 7-furlong, $220,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (G3) at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
One of three entries from trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., Soul of an Angel (8-5 morning-line favorite) will be running at a distance less than a mile for the first time since her career debut in December 2021 (she finished last of nine).
On the other side of the coin, Soul of an Angel has gone against some of the top females around. The daughter of Atreides topped Randomized in the 1-mile Ruffian (G2) at Aqueduct, ran fifth in the 1 1/8-mile Ogden Phipps (G1) at Saratoga, was second by a head to champion Idiomatic in the 1 1/16-mile Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth Park, and ran third behind Raging Sea and Idiomatic in the 1 1/8-mile Personal Ensign (G1) at Saratoga.
“She’s a big grand mare who’s very sound and runs hard,” Joseph said. “We bought her to cut her back in distance, and then she won the Ruffian, which was a nice surprise, and we never got to run her one turn again.
“We tried her in the race at Saratoga. She ran off the board there. We ran her in the Molly Pitcher, and she ran so well, we tried it one more time. We’re very keen to cut her back.
“Ideally, we’d prefer a one-turn mile, but we’re interested in seeing how she runs at seven-eighths.”
Joseph, based at Gulfstream, also entered Imonra and Haulin Ice. Soul of Angel breaks from post 5 and will be ridden by Drayden Van Dyke.
Beth’s Dream, a 6-year-old trained by Victor Barboza, Jr., is the 9-5 second choice with eight wins in 11 starts over Gulfstream’s main course, including a 4-0 record in 2024. Last out, the Florida-bred won the Sheer Drama Handicap on Aug. 17.
The race is part of the Breeders’ Cup challenge series, with the winner earning an all-fees paid, automatic berth into the BC Filly & Mare Turf (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
The Princess Rooney is race 10, post time 5:35 p.m. ET.
The picks: 1 Beth’s Dream 2 Maryquitecontrary 3 Soul of an Angel
1 Cousin Kristi (Hector Diaz, Jr., Cam Gambolati), 15-1
2 Imonra (Miguel Vasquez, Saffie Joseph, Jr.), 15-1
3 Haulin Ice (Edwin Gonzalez, Saffie Jospeh, Jr.), 8-1
4 Maryquitecontrary (Edgard Zayas, Eddie Plesa, Jr.), 6-1
5 Soul of an Angel (Drayden Van Dyke, Saffie Joseph, Jr.), 8-5
6 Unsolved Mystery (Carlos Rojas, Jorge Delgado), 20-1
7 Battle Cry (Leonel Reeves, Victor Barboza, Jr.), 30-1
8 Gallop d’Hermes (Sonny Leon, Dante Zanelli, Jr.), 30-1
9 Pacolli (Joseph Trejos, Hernan Parra), 15-1
10 Beth’s Dream (Emisael Jaramillo, Victor Barboza, Jr.), 9-5
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
