Princess Rooney (USA)
March 22, 1980 – October 7, 2008
Verbatim (USA) x Parrish Princess (USA), by Drone (USA)
Family 1-x
March 22, 1980 – October 7, 2008
Verbatim (USA) x Parrish Princess (USA), by Drone (USA)
Family 1-x
One of the best of her age group every year that she raced, Princess Rooney was plagued by injuries but finally broke through to secure the championship she so richly merited at 4, when she won the inaugural Breeders' Cup Distaff (USA-G1). Unfortunately, she came nowhere near the same level of success as a broodmare.
Race record
21 starts, 17 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third, US$1,343,339
1982:
1983:
1984:
Honors
Assessments
Co-highweighted with divisional champion Landaluce among juvenile fillies at 121 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1982.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1983, 1 pound below champion Heartlight No. One but tied with Ski Goggle for second.
Highweighted at 131 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1984, 7 pounds above joint second-rated Adored and Heatherten.
As an individual
“A big, strong, plain Amazon of a gray mare” in the words of trainer Neil Drysdale, Princess Rooney had abundant natural speed. She frequently ran her fields off their legs early but could stalk the pace at her jockey's discretion. Her consistency as a racer is all the more remarkable when it is considered that she suffered significant injuries at both 2 and 3. She ran out of the money in her only start on turf, the only time she was unplaced during her career. She had a kind disposition and was said to be quite a “ham” in front of the camera.
As a producer
Princess Rooney produced eight named foals, of which seven started and six won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Bred at Parrish Hill Farm in Kentucky by Dr. Ben Roach and Tom Roach II, Princess Rooney was owned by Paula Tucker, who purchased the filly for US$38,000 from the 1981 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale. “The Princess” was trained by Frank Gomez at 2 and 3 until after the Acorn Stakes, when she was transferred to Joseph Pierce Jr. She moved to the barn of Neil Drysdale after her first start at 4. She was sold to Wichita Equine, Inc., for US$5.5 million at the 1985 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Danzig. 10 years later, she was sold to the Gentry Brothers for US$130,000. She was pensioned at Gentry Brothers Farm near Lexington in 2006 after having failed to produce a live foal for two years and served as a babysitter for the weanling and yearling fillies after that. She was euthanized in October 2008 due to progression of equine protozoal myelitis and was buried at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Pedigree notes
Princess Rooney is inbred 4x4 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah and 4x5 to two-time American champion sire and eight-time American champion broodmare sire Princequillo. She is a full sister to Lyrical Princess, dam of stakes winner Founding Chairman (by Marquetry). She is a half sister to Puerto Rican stakes winner Bold Princess (by Bold Hour)
Princess Rooney's dam Parrish Princess never raced. She is a half sister to the minor stakes winner Mighty Mouse (by Shecky Greene) and to the stakes-winning hurdler Hypnosis (by Unconscious). She is also a half sister to Silesca, second dam of 1994 Slovakian and Hungarian champion sprinter Beat Star.
Parrish Princess, in turn, is out of the winning Law and Order mare Puzzesca, who is a half sister to 1966 New Hampshire Sweepstakes and Suburban Handicap winner Buffle (by Zenith) and to De Nuevo (by Poised), dam of stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Strawshy (by Count of Honor). The siblings' dam Refurbish is by Bold Venture out of the good stakes winner Renew (Blue Larkspur x Be Like Mom, by Sickle), a full sister to 1947 American champion 3-year-old filly and handicap female But Why Not and three-time American champion steeplechaser Oedipus.
Books and media
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Gentry Brothers Farm in 2008. Used by permission.
Last updated: January 17, 2023
Race record
21 starts, 17 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third, US$1,343,339
1982:
- Won Gardenia Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, The Meadowlands)
- Won Frizette Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
- Won Melaleuca Stakes (USA, 7FD, Calder)
1983:
- Won Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Ashland Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Keeneland)
- 2nd Acorn Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont)
1984:
- Won Breeders' Cup Distaff Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Hollywood)
- Won Vanity Invitational Handicap (USA-G1, 9FD, Hollywood)
- Won Spinster Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Keeneland)
- Won Chula Vista Handicap (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Del Mar)
- Won Susan's Girl Stakes (USA, 8FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Milady Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
- 3rd Hawthorne Handicap (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Hollywood)
Honors
- National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1991)
- Eclipse Award, American champion older female (1984)
Assessments
Co-highweighted with divisional champion Landaluce among juvenile fillies at 121 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juveniles of 1982.
Rated at 125 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American 3-year-old fillies of 1983, 1 pound below champion Heartlight No. One but tied with Ski Goggle for second.
Highweighted at 131 pounds on the Daily Racing Form's Free Handicap for American older females of 1984, 7 pounds above joint second-rated Adored and Heatherten.
As an individual
“A big, strong, plain Amazon of a gray mare” in the words of trainer Neil Drysdale, Princess Rooney had abundant natural speed. She frequently ran her fields off their legs early but could stalk the pace at her jockey's discretion. Her consistency as a racer is all the more remarkable when it is considered that she suffered significant injuries at both 2 and 3. She ran out of the money in her only start on turf, the only time she was unplaced during her career. She had a kind disposition and was said to be quite a “ham” in front of the camera.
As a producer
Princess Rooney produced eight named foals, of which seven started and six won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Lady in Waiting (1992, by Woodman) was stakes-placed on the track and produced Grade 3 winner Kid Grindstone (by Grindstone). She is also the second dam of multiple Indian stakes winner Jeremiah.
- Rooneys Princess (1996, by Deputy Minister) is the dam of listed stakes winner Prince Rooney (by Tale of the Cat).
Connections
Bred at Parrish Hill Farm in Kentucky by Dr. Ben Roach and Tom Roach II, Princess Rooney was owned by Paula Tucker, who purchased the filly for US$38,000 from the 1981 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale. “The Princess” was trained by Frank Gomez at 2 and 3 until after the Acorn Stakes, when she was transferred to Joseph Pierce Jr. She moved to the barn of Neil Drysdale after her first start at 4. She was sold to Wichita Equine, Inc., for US$5.5 million at the 1985 Keeneland November mixed sale, in foal to Danzig. 10 years later, she was sold to the Gentry Brothers for US$130,000. She was pensioned at Gentry Brothers Farm near Lexington in 2006 after having failed to produce a live foal for two years and served as a babysitter for the weanling and yearling fillies after that. She was euthanized in October 2008 due to progression of equine protozoal myelitis and was buried at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Pedigree notes
Princess Rooney is inbred 4x4 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah and 4x5 to two-time American champion sire and eight-time American champion broodmare sire Princequillo. She is a full sister to Lyrical Princess, dam of stakes winner Founding Chairman (by Marquetry). She is a half sister to Puerto Rican stakes winner Bold Princess (by Bold Hour)
Princess Rooney's dam Parrish Princess never raced. She is a half sister to the minor stakes winner Mighty Mouse (by Shecky Greene) and to the stakes-winning hurdler Hypnosis (by Unconscious). She is also a half sister to Silesca, second dam of 1994 Slovakian and Hungarian champion sprinter Beat Star.
Parrish Princess, in turn, is out of the winning Law and Order mare Puzzesca, who is a half sister to 1966 New Hampshire Sweepstakes and Suburban Handicap winner Buffle (by Zenith) and to De Nuevo (by Poised), dam of stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Strawshy (by Count of Honor). The siblings' dam Refurbish is by Bold Venture out of the good stakes winner Renew (Blue Larkspur x Be Like Mom, by Sickle), a full sister to 1947 American champion 3-year-old filly and handicap female But Why Not and three-time American champion steeplechaser Oedipus.
Books and media
- Princess Rooney was one of nearly 100 older Thoroughbreds profiled in photographs and essays in Barbara Livingston's More Old Friends: Visits With My Favorite Thoroughbreds (2007, Blood-Horse Publications).
- A video of Princess Rooney’s win in the 1984 Breeders’ Cup Distaff can be accessed within J. Keeler Johnson’s article “How One Princess Reigned Supreme in the Sport of Kings: Princess Rooney,” published January 2, 2022, at America’s Best Racing (https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2022-how-one-princess-reigned-supreme-the-sport-kings-princess-rooney).
Fun facts
- While she was being transferred to Neil Drysdale's barn in California, Princess Rooney made a stop in Kentucky that left her the worse for wear, the result of a tree falling on her van. The normally good-natured filly panicked and banged up both hocks.
- Princess Rooney's time for the Breeders' Cup Distaff (then at 10 furlongs) was a full second faster than the time for the inaugural Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1) on the same card.
- Princess Rooney was the first winner of a Breeders' Cup race to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
- The US$5.5 million paid for Princess Rooney at the 1985 Keeneland November mixed sale was the third-highest price for a broodmare at auction up to that time.
- The Princess Rooney Stakes is a sprint race for fillies and mares ages 3 and up. Currently a Grade 2 race over 7 furlongs on dirt, it is run at Gulfstream Park as part of the “Summit of Speed” card.
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at Gentry Brothers Farm in 2008. Used by permission.
Last updated: January 17, 2023