By admin 
Trainer Michael McCarthy has reason to be more than a little optimistic about Berkels0813 LLC, CMNWLTH LLC, Grantley Acres and Ryan Connor’s Simply Joking cutting back from two turns to one turn for Saturday’s $225,000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
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After all, he was certainly successful while making that move with Ce Ce, who cut back to one turn to win the 2021 Princess Rooney, the seven-furlong stakes for fillies and mares that would serve as a springboard for a triumph in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar later in the year.
Simply Joking’s two-turn form has been so solid that the 4-year-old daughter of Practical Joke has been installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of seven assembled for the Princess Rooney, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series ‘Win and You’re In’ event that offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
“It’s a nice race at the right time of year for her. I like the spacing. Hopefully, she runs to her training,” McCarthy said. “Maybe this will find her in a race like the Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland.”
Simply Joking has been graded stakes-placed around two turns in her three most recent races, including a front-running 6 3/4-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Maria (G3) April 19 at Santa Anita. She is graded stakes-placed around one turn also, having finished an even third in the seven-furlong La Brea (G1) in her 2025 finale at Santa Anita.
Ce Ce was entered in the 2021 Princess Rooney the following year after finishing a disappointing fourth in the Santa Maria.
“I kind of thought her best chance for big-race success would be cutting back to one turn and being able to go ahead and sit back off the pace and come with a big move,” McCarthy said. “She turned into a stretch-running sprinter or something along those lines. It was something we took a shot at and she seemed like she enjoyed it.”
Ce Ce stalked the pace before drawing off to a 3 1/2-length triumph in the Princess Rooney before going on to rally from off the pace to capture the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint by 2 1/2 lengths. She returned to Gulfstream the following year to win the Princess Rooney by 6 1/2 lengths after closely attending the early pace.
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Juan Hernandez is slated to ride Simply Joking for the first time Saturday.
No Ordinary Claim, No Bad Beats Runs Back in Princess Rooney
Claimed for $50,000 out of her last race, No Bad Beats will make her first start for Thiele Thoroughbreds LLC and trainer Leonard Powell in Saturday’s $225,000 Princess Rooney (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
While the jump into graded-stakes company may be viewed as an ambitious move, the 5-year-old daughter of Midnight Storm is no ordinary claim. Two races prior to being claimed out of a 6 1/2-furlong optional claiming allowance at Del Mar Aug. 9, No Bad Beats finished second in the six-furlong Las Flores (G3) at Santa Anita.
“She was already graded stakes-placed, so we were happy to have the chance to claim her,” Powell said.
Previously trained by Doug O’Neill, No Bad Beats was coming off a six-month layoff when she was claimed. She previously had an off-the-board finish in the Feb. 7 D. Wayne Lukas Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, one race after earning her graded-stakes placing in the Las Flores. She was more than ready for her return, winning by 3 3/4 lengths in hand.
“She won that race without any pressure, and we’re very happy with the way she’s been training since we’ve had her, It’s a chance to get to the Breeders’ Cup,” said Powell, explaining the decision to run No Bad Beats in the Princess Rooney, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series ‘Win and You’re In’ event that offers the winner a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint Oct. 31 at Keeneland.
No Bad Beats, who is 12-1 on the morning line, will be ridden by Diego Herrera, the former Southern California jockey who won the riding title for Gulfstream’s recently concluded Royal Palm Meet.
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 11:58 AM.