Nicks taking shot in Princess Rooney

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Ralph Nicks will be the first to admit his talented 3-year-old filly Spirit Wind will be facing a very tall task going up against the likes of the reigning female sprint champion Ce Ce in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Stakes here on July 2.

But with a home-court advantage, an extra $50,000 in Florida-bred incentive purse money to compete for, and most importantly a filly who couldn’t be doing any better at the present time, Nicks and owner-breeder Fred Brei have enough good reasons to give Spirit Wind the opportunity to run in the sevenfurlong fixture that also is a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

Spirit Wind has won her three starts this season by a combined 23 lengths, including the Musical Romance against older horses by five lengths in her most recent start. The homebred daughter of Bahamian Squall further convinced Nicks to take a chance in the Princess Rooney after working four furlongs in 48.25 seconds, her final quarter in 23.14, here Friday.

“The Princess Rooney is still the plan,” Nicks said shortly after Friday’s work. “Fred [Brei] wanted to stay here for the Musical Romance rather than ship her out of town for a stakes against 3-year-olds to see how she’d match up against the older mares and obviously that worked out nicely. And her work today was excellent. She went off easy, finished well, and did it within herself.

“She couldn’t be in better form, her confidence level is very high going into the race, and I think now that she’s shown she could rate, stretching out to seven furlongs should be to her advantage.”

Ironically, when Ce Ce came to South Florida to compete and ultimately win the 2021 Princess Rooney, she spent the days leading up to the race in Nicks’s care. And Nicks said trainer Michael McCarthy has already broached the subject of sending her back to him again if she returns, as expected, to defend her title next weekend.

“To my knowledge, she’s coming here with us again this year, although I haven’t heard from Michael in about a week, so there’s nothing definite planned at this time,” Nicks added.

Tapeta races top card

There is nary an allowance event scheduled on Sunday’s program, with a pair of starter allowance/optional-claiming races to be decided over the Tapeta track sharing top billing.

The first of the co-features will be run at a mile and 70 yards for older horses and lured a very wide-open field of seven with handicappers likely able to make a case for just about every member of the field.

Eyes of a Champion and Dunnigan, who finished first and second, respectively, under similar conditions last month on the turf, may ultimately vie for favoritism in a field that includes multiple winners Vitale and Onward Again along with the improving No Man Left Behind, who should also attract plenty of attention with jockey Edgard Zayas taking the call.

The co-featured eighth race goes at five furlongs for older fillies and mares with the red-hot Alizee among the key contenders along with the stakes-placed pair of My Destiny and Nikee Kan, both of whom seem better suited to turf than the synthetic course.