The $200,000 Princess Rooney Invitational Stakes (G3), a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In event, highlights the track's Sunshine Meet stakes schedule of 17 races worth $1.625 million in purses in late summer and fall at Gulfstream Park.
The seven-furlong stakes for fillies and mares, which offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar, will be renewed Sept. 20.
Last year, Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Soul of an Angel captured the Princess Rooney by 3 1/4 lengths before going on to rally from last to prevail in the seven-furlong Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint by a half-length at Del Mar.
Similarly, the Michael McCarthy-trained Ce Ce won the 2021 Princess Rooney before going on to score in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar. Ce Ce returned to Gulfstream to win the 2022 Princess Rooney, but was unsuccessful in a bid to repeat in the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.
Both Soul of an Angel and Ce Ce were honored with the champion female sprinter Eclipse Award after winning the Princess Rooney and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.
The stakes action for the Sunshine Meet (Sept. 5 through Nov. 23) will be kicked off by the first leg of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-old Florida-breds. The $100,000 FSS Dr. Fager, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, and the $100,000 FSS Desert Vixen, a six-furlong dash for juvenile fillies, will be run Sept. 6.
FTBOA FSS action will resume Oct. 18 with the $150,000 FSS Affirmed, a seven-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, and the $150,000 FSS Susan's Girl, a seven-furlong stakes for juvenile fillies.
The $100,000 Gil Campbell Memorial Stakes, a mile stakes for Florida-bred 3-year-olds and up, will also be featured on the Oct. 18 program. Campbell, the late president of the FTBOA, owned Stonehedge Farm South near Williston, Fla., with his wife Marilyn, who is still very much active in breeding and owning Florida-breds.
Seven stakes are scheduled to be conducted on a turf course that is currently undergoing renovation. The $75,000 Bob Umphrey Sprint, a five-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up, and the $75,000 Ginger Punch, a mile stakes for fillies and mares, will kick off the turf stakes action on the Princess Rooney Invitational undercard Sept. 20.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
