Although Gulfstream Park’s $75,000 Musical Romance Stakes is named after a multiple Grade 1 winner and Eclipse Award champion, the race has rarely, if ever, been used as a prep for a major graded stakes during the Saratoga meet. But such will be the case Sunday when trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. uses the 6 1/2-furlong fixture for fillies and mares as a stepping-stone to the Grade 2 Honorable Miss on July 20 at Saratoga for the red-hot Haulin Ice.
Haulin Ice comes into the Musical Romance having won her last three starts and four of her last five dating back to a high-priced optional-claiming and allowance triumph at Oaklawn Park in her 2024 finale. Her lone loss during that streak came in her 4-year-old debut at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 2 Inside Information when the speedster had her best chances compromised after having her head turned and left unprepared for the start.
Haulin Ice bounced out of the Inside Information in top style, winning a pair of stakes in one-sided fashion at Oaklawn, including the Matron, for which she earned a lifetime-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.
Joseph entered his speedy filly back in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs only to call an audible and take a more conservative route, shipping her instead to Aqueduct to win the Grade 3 Vagrancy in game fashion the following afternoon.
“She obviously stepped it up big at Oaklawn after the Inside Information, she really likes that track,” Joseph said. “I scratched her from the Derby City because the race was coming up really tough and I found a much easier spot in New York where she ran very well again. The goal now is the Honorable Miss, so we thought we’d bring her back home to Florida and take the easier route into that race by running her here.”
Haulin Ice will pay for her recent success by going postward the 126-pound highweight and conceding five to 12 pounds to her six rivals, including stablemate Princess Indy, who will carry 120.
“She’s not an overly big filly, so carrying 126 pounds is a lot for her, and she’s going to have to break well from the rail and put herself in a forward spot,” Joseph said. “But we feel like if she runs the way she has been running she should do well in this spot.”
Princess Indy turns back in distance after finishing second, nearly 20 lengths behind runaway winner Claret Beret, in a one-mile overnight handicap May 11. The outing was the first this season for the daughter of Lord Nelson, who was a stakes winner at 2 and stakes-placed again last year during her 3-year-old campaign.
“She’s been running longer but she’s a half to Super Chow, so we want to try to cut her back in distance, see how that works out and hope for a placing on Sunday,” Joseph explained.
Both Vincey Girl and Charlie’s Wish were assigned 121 pounds and look like the most logical alternatives for those trying to upset the odds-on favorite.
Vincey Girl will return to sprinting after a fourth-place finish trying two turns for the first time last month at Monmouth Park in the Serena’s Song Stakes. Charlie’s Wish also shortens up off a steady diet of longer races dating back to her 2 1/4-length victory going 1 1/16 miles over the Tapeta last September in the Ginger Punch Stakes.
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