Princess Haya Heads Field of Seven in Sunday's Cardinal Handicap

Nov 05, 2010 Gary Yunt

Eileen Hartis’ Princess Haya, winner of the 2009 Canadian (Grade II) at Woodbine, will carry top weight of 117 pounds and concede from 1-5 pounds to six rivals entered for Sunday’s 37th running of the $100,000-added Cardinal Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs.

The Cardinal, won last year by Acoma, will go as the 10th race on Sunday’s 11-race post-Breeders’ Cup card that begins at 12:40 p.m. (all times Eastern). Post time for the Cardinal, which will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course, is 5:15 p.m.

Trained by Carl O’Callaghan, Princess Haya enters the Cardinal off a seventh-place finish in the Yellow Ribbon (GI) at Hollywood Park on Oct. 2. Kent Desormeaux, who rode Indescribable to victory in the 2008 Cardinal, has the mount on Princess Haya, who will break from post position four.

The second high weight at 116 pounds is Carl Pollard’s Kiss Mine, trained by David Vance. Kiss Mine had a four-race turf win streak snapped in her most recent start, a seventh-place finish in the First Lady (GI) at Keeneland on Oct. 9. Robby Albarado, who won the 2002 Cardinal on Quick Tip, has the call on Kiss Mine, who will break from post position five.

The field for the Cardinal, from the inside out, is as follows: War Tigress (Rosemary Homeister Jr., 112 pounds), Romin Robin (Calvin Borel, 115), Askbut I Won’ttell (Shaun Bridgmohan, 113), Princess Haya (Desormeaux, 117), Kiss Mine (Albarado, 116), Paracaidas (Garrett Gomez, 114) and My Baby Baby (Julien Leparoux, 115).