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Longshot bettors raid the Mint in Princess Rooney In a shocker on Saturday, John and Martha Jane Mulholland's MALIBU MINT (Malibu Moon) drew off to capture the $500,000 Princess Rooney H. (G1) as the 23-1 longshot, while heavy 1-5 favorite Dubai Escapade (Awesome Again) failed to hit the board. Hot Storm (Stormy Atlantic) grabbed the early lead, clocking a quarter-mile in :21 3/5 and four furlongs in :44 before giving way to the eventual winner. Malibu Mint swung wide under jockey Josuè Arce for the stretch run, battling briefly with Prospective Saint (Saint Ballado) before asserting a 3 3/4-length advantage at the line, completing the six-furlong affair in 1:10 over a fast track. "This is by far the biggest win of my career," Arce said. "Honestly, coming into this race I thought that the favorite was going to be almost impossible to beat because she has been so good since she came to the United States. I thought that our best chance was to sit back since there was so much speed in the race and see if we could close on them in the stretch. I was confident in the sense that my filly likes this track and was coming off a very good race at Churchill Downs. Of course it worked out perfectly and she finished very strong." "She obviously handles the track here very well (she's won three straight at Calder), but I don't think think that mattered today," trainer James Chapman said. "She's just doing so well. I haven't got any specific plan for her right now." Because the odds-on Dubai Escapade hit the wire a well-beaten sixth, a reverse show pool resulted, making the Princess Rooney a longshot players' delight. The winning four-year-old filly gave back $49.20, $26.60 and $79.40 while leading exotics of $538.60 (exacta), $3,418.40 (trifecta) and $25,203.80 for the 1-2-6-5 superfecta. Prospective Saint chased the pace early on in third and wound up a one-paced second to return $15.80 and $65.80 at 13-1. Hot Storm held on for third to pay $32 at 7-1. Ebony Breeze (Belong to Me), Annika Lass (Mister Jolie), Dubai Escapade and Leave Me Alone (Bold Badgett) rounded out the order of finish. Bred in Kentucky by B. Wayne Hughes, the chestnut filly is out of the stakes-winning mare Ivory Mint (Key to the Mint), whose latest foals are a yearling colt by No Armistice and a 2006 filly by Runaway Groom. Malibu Moon annexed her first graded stakes and second black-type event overall here, having captured the Chaposa Springs H. at Calder last year. With this win, she improved her record to 18-5-3-1 and added $294,000 to the bank to boost her earnings to $435,129. Malibu Mint was purchased by her connections for $15,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. This was Dubai Escapade's first loss on dirt, breaking a five-race win streak which began in her second career outing in March of 2005 at Nad al Sheba. "I'm very disappointed," said Eoin Harty, trainer of the favorite. "(Jockey) Edgar (Prado) said she didn't feel like herself today. I can't blame the heat. It's hot in New York and we just got here yesterday. I can't see anything wrong with her, but I'm going back to the barn and see."
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