Soul of an Angel emerged from her win in the Grade 3 Princess Rooney on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in good order and is scheduled to run next in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Tuesday.
“She bounced out the race well,” he said. “She’ll stay in Florida and ship to the Breeders’ Cup, all being well.”
The $1 million BC Filly and Mare Sprint, which will be run over seven furlongs, is Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
Soul of an Angel won the Grade 2 Ruffian, a one-turn mile, in May at the Belmont meet at Aqueduct in her first start for Joseph and new ownership. In more recent times she’s been racing around two turns. Soul of an Angel was second by a head to champion Idiomatic in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth in July and third in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign over 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga in her start immediately preceding the Princess Rooney.
“Obviously we cut her back to seven-eighths for the first time,” Joseph said of the Princess Rooney. “She got a little farther back than you would like to see, so in the initial stages, you weren’t too confident. But then she ended up winning it really, really well. We’re very happy she handled the cutback and it seems that’s what she’s going to be really good at.”
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Soul of an Angel closed from last for a 3 1/4-length win, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
Plans for Andrea, another recent Gulfstream stakes winner for Joseph, are to be determined. Andrea is unbeaten in two starts, and on Sept. 14 won the Hallandale Beach for 2-year-old fillies by 7 3/4 lengths. Andrea, a daughter of Thousand Words, came into the one-turn mile off a debut win at 5 1/2 furlongs, winning off by more than six lengths on the July 26 card at Gulfstream.
“It’s not set what we do yet,” Joseph said. “We’re kind of thinking of waiting for the Golden Rod at Churchill Downs in November, but nothing’s been decided yet.”
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