Estilo Talentoso seeks flight to Fla. for Princess Rooney

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Estilo Talentoso has come a long way since finishing second debuting under a $16,000 claiming tag at Tampa Bay Downs in January 2020. Now getting her a long way – from Delaware Park to Gulfstream Park –in proper order is the key to whether Estilo Talentoso will run in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Invitational on July 3 at Gulfstream Park.

With Tex Sutton Air Transport still grounded due to a leasing issue, her owners are looking into securing a flight to South Florida for Estilo Talentoso. Trainer Juan Arriagada said the Princess Rooney “is the perfect race” for his steadily improving 4-year-old filly.

Estilo Talentoso is coming off a game neck victory over Lake Avenue in the Grade 3 Bed o’ Roses at Belmont over a sloppy track on June 4. In her two previous starts, she finished third behind Gamine in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at Churchill and second, beaten less than a length by Kimari, in the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland.

“We are really interested in running in the Princess Rooney,” Arriagada said Wednesday. “She came out of her last race well. I told the owners we can go, but I’d really like to fly her down there. It’s very hot in Miami right now, and even though she is an excellent shipper, being on a trailer for 21 hours is a little too much. I’m waiting on a call from the owners now regarding shipping arrangements.”

Estilo Talentoso is no stranger to Gulfstream Park, having won her maiden here going one mile over a sloppy track in her sixth start. She also won a stakes for the first time when she captured the one-mile Escena, an overnight event, in her 3-year-old finale here last summer.

Arriagada said he and the owners were thinking of taking Estilo Talentoso to Saratoga for the Honorable Miss, “but the owners believe the field in Florida should be a little lighter than what we’d face at Saratoga.”

“And she’s already got experience and has won a couple of times over [the Gulfstream] track,” he said.

Javier Castellano has been aboard Estilo Talentoso in her last two starts, but Arriagada said that if he cannot come to Gulfstream for the Princess Rooney, Edgard Zayas would have the mount.

“Edgard knows the track, being a regular there all year round, and he knows this filly, having ridden her to her first stakes victory last year at Gulfstream,” Arriagada said.

Estilo Talentoso, who is scheduled to breeze this weekend, is one of 14 fillies and mares who have been invited to the seven-furlong Princess Rooney. The list also includes Kimari along with Grade 1 winners Ce Ce and Bell’s the One, all of whom could face similar shipping issues.

The Princess Rooney is the headliner on the Summit of Speed card, which also includes the Grade 3 Smile Invitational.

Front Loaded the hot horse

Live racing resumes Friday at Gulfstream with a nine-race program that includes a pair of allowance races and three 2-year-old maiden events, including the first two-turn turf race for juveniles this season. Post time for the first race is 2 p.m.

The highlight of the day is the eighth race, a six-furlong allowance with a $52,000 purse that attracted a field of nine led by Front Loaded, who exploded to a 7 3/4-length win in a $35,000 claiming dash here May 9. He received a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure. The outing was the first since the 7-year-old was claimed for $12,500 by trainer Georgina Baxter three months earlier.

Front Loaded, who has proven he can win from on or off the lead, figures to get plenty of pace to run at with Kalu and Running for Riz breaking alongside one another down near the rail and Fundy’s Tide likely to force the issue from the outside. An honest pace also would enhance the chances of Silverly Enough, who missed by less than a length under similar conditions two starts back, and Septemberten, coming off a third-place finish versus similar four weeks earlier.

Statebred fillies and mares will vie for a $51,000 pot going one mile in the sixth event. Among the key contenders are last-out winner Pacific Princess; Jost Sayin, who finished second under the same conditions on April 22; and Raspberry Ballet.