Princess Rooney

Madcap Escapade got back to her winning ways at Calder (Skip Smith)

Bruce Lunsford’s MADCAP ESCAPADE (Hennessy) vindicated her 1-2 favorite
status in Sunday’s $500,000
Princess Rooney H. (G2) on Calder’s Summit of Speed
program, taking the lead in the six-furlong test and drawing away to a 5
1/4-length score. Ridden by Jerry Bailey, the Frank Brothers trainee set splits
of of :21 3/5, :44 3/5 and :56 4/5 before stopping the clock in 1:09 4/5 to
return $3, $2.40 and $2.10 to her many backers.

Happy Ticket (Anet) rallied well for second after breaking slow and bumping
with Prospective Saint (Saint Ballado) near the end of the backstretch. The
four-year-old miss swung four wide around the turn and got up to be three parts
of a length ahead of Savorthetime (Gilded Time) at the wire to pay $2.80 and
$2.20 at 7-2. The latter, sent off at 21-1, was worth $2.20 while the exotics
gave back $10.20 (exacta), $45.40 (trifecta) and $106 (8-5-6-3 superfecta).
Molto Vita (Carson City), Prospective Saint and Sensibly Chic (Distorted Humor)
were next under the line after Sorbet (Formal Dinner) and Wild Speed (Forest
Wildcat) were withdrawn.

Madcap Escapade made a name for herself last year when taking her first four
career starts, including the Ashland S. (G1) and Forward Gal S. (G2). She
suffered her first defeat when running third in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), and
wasn’t seen in competition again until taking the Shirley Jones H. (G2) in her
four-year-old bow in February. Since then, she’s added a win in the Madison S.
(G3) and prior to this one ran a close fifth in the Humana Distaff H. (G1). Her
line now reads 9-7-0-1 with $1,052,852 in accumulated earnings.