The profession of Princess Rooney was not in contrast to a sandwich. Maintain the laughter – it’s true. Throughout her three seasons on the monitor, she packaged a skinny layer of disappointment between two sensational profitable streaks that stamped her as one of many best fillies to each grace the game of kings.

Bred in Kentucky by Ben and Tom Roach, Princess Rooney wasn’t precisely a sizzling commodity as a yearling. Her pedigree wasn’t essentially the most modern; her sire, Verbatim, was a decent although not excellent racehorse and stallion, whereas her dam and damsire each have been unraced.

Maybe because of this, Princess Rooney was offered for simply $38,000 as a yearling to Paula J. Tucker, who despatched the grey filly to coach in Florida beneath the care of Frank Gomez. It was there, within the Sunshine State, the place Princess Rooney laid the inspiration for an unforgettable profession.

Princess Rooney made her debut on Could 22, 1982, at Calder Race Course, removed from the spring spotlights of New York, Kentucky, or California. Favored to defeat eight rivals in a maiden dash, Princess Rooney rewarded her supporters with a straightforward three-length victory. Barely greater than two weeks later, she received an allowance race at Calder by 4 lengths earlier than taking a three-month break from racing to goal for a fall marketing campaign. She had begun her profession in promising trend, however few may have anticipated what her future held.

When Princess Rooney returned within the fall, she had remodeled right into a beast. First, she destroyed the competitors in an allowance race by 18 lengths, profitable with full authority. Then she dominated the Melaleuca Stakes at Calder by a dozen lengths earlier than delivery to Belmont Park for the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes.

The sharp rise in school whereas touring to a more durable racing circuit would have been a stumbling block for many horses. However Princess Rooney negotiated the impediment like an Olympic hurdler, using her front-running pace to dominate the Frizette by eight widening lengths. 13 days later she wheeled again within the Grade 2 Gardenia Stakes on the Meadowlands, and regardless of “grabbing 1 / 4” (putting and injuring herself along with her personal hoof) at the beginning, she pulled away as traditional to trounce her challengers by 11 lengths.

Princess Rooney’s Gardenia triumph introduced the curtain down on a sensational 6-for-6 juvenile marketing campaign wherein her common margin of victory was higher than 9 lengths. Usually, such a season would have earned Princess Rooney an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly, however when the votes have been counted she misplaced out to the equally unbeaten and unchallenged Landaluce.

This wouldn’t be the final time Princess Rooney missed an Eclipse Award regardless of compiling a high-class marketing campaign. As a 3-year-old in 1983, she returned as dominant as ever, rattling off two allowance wins sprinting at Gulfstream Park and Keeneland earlier than cruising to a 9 ½-length victory within the Grade 2 Ashland Stakes, her last prep for the celebrated Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

However beneath the Twin Spires, Princess Rooney lacked her traditional sparkle. After setting a modest tempo, she was put to an all-out drive down the homestretch to stem off a late rally from Shiny Crocus and prevail by simply 1 ¼ lengths. Her report was nonetheless excellent – 10-for-10 – however racing analysts have been upset she didn’t win by extra.

“She seems round loads each time,” jockey Jacinto Vasquez defined within the Could 7, 1983, version of the Fort Myers, Florida, Information-Press. “Each time she sees a shadow, she tries to leap. Then when she received to the quarter-pole, a man raised a digicam contained in the rail and she or he shied from it.”

“I believe she received to loafing a little bit bit,” agreed Frank Gomez.

However three weeks later, the seemingly not possible occurred. Within the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, held on the identical monitor and distance because the Frizette, Princess Rooney faltered badly. After monitoring a quick tempo, she supplied no response within the homestretch and weakened to complete a distant second, 7 ½ lengths behind the winner. It was the primary defeat of her profession, and she or he hadn’t even come near difficult.

Just a few days after the Acorn, Princess Rooney was reported to be affected by a knee damage, and almost seven months handed earlier than she returned to motion in a six-furlong allowance dash on the Meadowlands. With the vast majority of the season misplaced, there was no time remaining for Princess Rooney to boost her Eclipse Award credentials, and dropping her comeback race by a size certainly didn’t assist her probabilities, even when she was later awarded first prize. Once more, when the ballots got here in, Princess Rooney was left within the chilly because the late-maturing summer season sensation Heartlight No. One claimed honors as champion 3-year-old filly.

For a time, it appeared Princess Rooney’s profession was in a freefall. She kicked off 1984 with a fourth-place end within the Bal Harbour Stakes on turf, the worst efficiency of her profession, and it was honest to surprise if she would ever regain her greatest type. With the inaugural working of the wealthy Breeders’ Cup Distaff looming lower than a 12 months away, a change was wanted to reignite Princess Rooney’s aggressive spirit.

Maybe a shift in surroundings would do the trick. The choice was made to ship Princess Rooney to coach beneath the care of Neil Drysdale in California, the place the Breeders’ Cup could be held at Hollywood Park.

However what ought to have been a simple journey took a tough flip midway throughout the nation. “[Princess Rooney] first was vanned from Florida to Kentucky, the place upon her arrival a tree fell on the van,” recounted Don Clippinger in The Philadelphia Inquirer of Nov. 6, 1984. “Princess Rooney, usually a good-natured and placid filly, grew to become extraordinarily upset and banged up her hocks.”

Thereafter, Drysdale took his time with the once-unstoppable filly. Princess Rooney didn’t run for 2 months, and when she did return to the monitor, her type improved solely modestly at first. She was all-out to win the minor Susan’s Woman Stakes by a nostril, then completed third within the Grade 2 Hawthorne Handicap and second within the Grade 2 Milady Handicap, each received by the 4-year-old Adored.

Having crossed the end line first in simply certainly one of her final six begins, Princess Rooney may hardly have been anticipated to reemerge as a prime contender for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. However she was nonetheless enhancing little by little, and Drysdale persevered, getting into her towards Adored yet another time within the Grade 1 Self-importance Invitational Handicap at Hollywood Park.

This time, the outcomes have been totally different. As if a change had been flipped, Princess Rooney turned again the clock and rallied tenaciously by way of the homestretch to put on down Adored and prevail by a head within the stakes-record time of 1:46 1/5 for 1 1/8 miles.

“Boy, is she recreation,” marveled profitable rider Eddie Delahoussaye within the July 16, 1984, version of the Los Angeles Instances. “Once we got here to Adored within the stretch, she took off once more, however my filly additionally got here again. When she’s proper, she’s an actual runner.”

And clearly, Princess Rooney was proper once more. As if emboldened by her first main victory for the reason that Kentucky Oaks, Princess Rooney ripped off consecutive wins within the Grade 3 Chula Vista Handicap, an allowance race, and the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes, a exceptional streak that made her the favourite to win the Nov. 10 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

The problem at Hollywood Park was speculated to be fierce. Each certainly one of Princess Rooney’s six rivals had beforehand received on the Grade 1 degree, together with the 1984 Kentucky Oaks winner Fortunate Fortunate Fortunate and the longer term 1985 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Life’s Magic.

However within the last begin of her profession, Princess Rooney lastly delivered the tour de drive, championship-defining efficiency analysts had anticipated within the 1983 Kentucky Oaks. After vying for the early lead with Fortunate Fortunate Fortunate, Princess Rooney took command on the far flip, opened up in early stretch, and widened down the lane to crush her rivals by seven lengths.

“I felt good about her, however I by no means thought she’d win like that,” marveled Drysdale within the Nov. 11, 1984, version of the Fort Lauderdale Information. “I knew [Delahoussaye] hadn’t requested her to run when she received to the highest of the stretch, however you by no means understand how a lot they’ve left. I’m glad she received that means as a result of she now has clinched the Eclipse Award.”

Drysdale was right. When the ballots have been counted for the 1984 Eclipse Awards, in the end, Princess Rooney was acknowledged as champion of her division.

However the trophy was merely affirmation of what racing followers and analysts already knew. By resurrecting her racing profession when all appeared misplaced, Princess Rooney had proved she was a genuinely nice racehorse.

Notice: This story was initially printed in 2019 and has been up to date.

Enjoyable Info

• Princess Rooney retired with a report of 17 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third from 21 begins, with earnings of $1,343,339.
• Since a lot of Princess Rooney’s early success got here in Florida, it’s comprehensible why the Grade 3 Princess Rooney Stakes at Gulfstream Park is called in her honor.
• Loads of cash was using on Princess Rooney to complete third or higher within the Kentucky Oaks. In keeping with the Could 7, 1983, version of the New York Every day Information, “Three separate wagers of $50,000, $100,000 and $170,000” have been positioned on Princess Rooney to point out. Thankfully for these large bettors, Princess Rooney delivered as anticipated.
• After promoting for $5.5 million as a broodmare prospect – almost 145 instances better than her authentic buy value – Princess Rooney produced seven named foals, six of which received races.
• Princess Rooney lived to the age of 28, passing away on Oct. 7, 2008.