Musical Romance, Trinniberg highlight Summit of Speed

Musical Romance, who just missed in last year’s Princess Rooney, went on to upset the BC Filly & Mare Sprint (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com) Champion female sprinter Musical Romance endured a tough beat in last year’s Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap when nabbed at the wire by Sassy Image, who rallied from far back while racing near the outer rail. The Bill Kaplan trainee will be favored to make amends in Saturday’s renewal of the $400,000 dash over six furlongs at Calder, the highlight of the Miami track’s annual Summit of Speed. Musical Romance has had mixed success since her championship clinching win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last November. She rebounded from a rough-trip fourth in the Florida Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint to register her first win at Gulfstream Park in the Grade 2 Inside Information on March 17, but subsequently proved no match for Groupie Doll in the Grade 1 Madison and Grade 1 Humana Distaff, losing by margins of more than seven lengths each time. Grade 2 veteran Nicole H, a hard-luck second in last month’s Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap after taking a brief lead in deep stretch, is Musical Romance’s most accomplished rival. The five-year-old won a pair of stakes during the Aqueduct inner dirt meet this past winter, but has fallen short in her last four starts. In addition to the Vagrancy, the mare also endured a close beat in the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap after enjoying a three-length lead with a furlong to go.

Bouquet Booth, a six-length allowance winner at Churchill Downs last time
after adding blinkers, seeks her first stakes win since February 2011 when she
captured the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. The Steve Margolis trainee was
previously a Grade 3 winner at two.

Trainer Marty Wolfson has entered five of the 11 Princess Rooney starters,
including last year’s third-place finisher Indulgence.

Trinniberg, a dominating winner of the Grade 2 Woody Stephens, Grade 3 Bay
Shore and Grade 3 Swale this term, was cross-entered to both the Grade 2,
$400,000
Smile Sprint Handicap and the Grade 3, $150,000
Carry Back for
three-year-olds, both at six furlongs.

The Smile Sprint would surely be the more challenging of the two spots for
Trinniberg as it would be his first outing against older horses. Scheduled to
line up in the Smile Sprint are former Canadian champion Field Commission, a 3
1/4-length winner of the June 9 Ponche Handicap off an 18-month layoff; Grade 3
winners Apriority and Indiano; and Gantry, who swept three sprint stakes at Fair
Grounds last winter and was most recently third in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs.

Trinniberg would be an overwhelming favorite in the Carry Back, which also
attracted five-time stakes hero Fort Loudon and Hello Prince, who ran second to
Trinniberg in the March 10 Swale.

The Grade 3, $150,000
Azalea
over six furlongs features nine three-year-old fillies. Topping the field are
Another Romance and Citizen Advocate, who were separated by a neck in the June 9
Leave Me Alone over the track and trip.

Saturday’s program also features two $100,000 stakes on grass, the
Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint at five furlongs and the
Hollywood Wildcat for older fillies
and mares at 7 1/2 furlongs.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com