Haulin Ice Romps in ‘Win & You’re In’ G3 Princess Rooney

Earns Shot to Follow in Soul of an Angel’s Hoofprints at Del Mar

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – C2 Racing Stable LLC, Miller Racing LLC, Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch’s Haulin Ice registered a commanding front-running victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park, earning a shot to follow in the hoofprints of Soul of an Angel.

The Princess Rooney, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares that headlined an 11-race program with five stakes, is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge ‘Win and You’re In’ race that awards the winner a fees-paid berth into the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Last year, Soul of an Angel won the Princess Rooney before going on to win the seven-furlong Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar for C2 Racing Stable LLC, Agave Racing Stable and Ken Reimer.

“She’s incredible. Back-to-back Rooneys and headed back to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint,” said Clint Cornett, managing partner of the C2 Racing Stable LLC he operates with brother Mark. “This little horse, we bought her out of Oaklawn. She’s a little grinder. We couldn’t be more excited for C2, Miller Racing, all of our partners. This is great.”

One of three starters trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. in a field of seven, Haulin Ice took control of the Princess Rooney right out of the gate before being able to set moderate half-mile fractions of 23.01 and 45.50 seconds under Edgard Zayas and continuing on to score by 4 ¾ lengths. Haulin Ice ran seven furlongs on a ‘good’ track in 1:22.80.

“She really finished out very nice. I know seven furlongs might be a little stretch for her, but the way she put up the fractions in the beginning, she really came home very nice,” Zayas said.

Haulin Ice, the 5-2 second betting choice, established herself as the richest Arkansas-bred thoroughbred of all time while picking up the $115,200 winner’s share of the purse to boost her career earnings to $958,650. Nodouble earned $846,749 during a career that included a third-place finish in the 1968 Preakness (G1).

Angel Quiroz-trained Nerazurri, a 41-1 longshot ridden by Edgar Perez, was closest in pursuit of Haulin Ice for most of the race, finished second, a half-length in front of Gustavo Delgado-trained Reputation, who finished 1 ½ lengths ahead of Jose D’Angelo-trained Vincey Girl.

Haulin Ice’s Joseph-trained stablemates Claret Beret, the 8-5 favorite, and Ultimate Authority finished fifth and seventh, respectively.

Joseph-trained Mystic Lake was also entered to run in the Princess Rooney but was scratched in favor of Saturday’s $150,000 Liberty Bell at Parx, where the C2 Racing Stable, Stefania Farms LLC’s 4-year-old daughter of Mo Town won her fourth stakes in a row.

Haulin Ice, a 4-year-old daughter of Coal Front who was privately purchased at Oaklawn last year, had a four-race winning streak snapped by a second-place finish in the Aug. 16 Sheer Drama, in which she set a pressured pace before being overtaken by Vincey Girl while conceding seven pounds to the winner.

“It looked like there was no speed at all in the race. It was different than her last race when she had [to carry] 127 pounds, plus there was a lot of speed in the race,” Zayas said. “Today, she was the speed of the speed, and she put up pretty easy fractions and then sprinted home.”