Registered Pennsylvania-bred fillies meet up in the $75,000 Princess of Sylmar Stakes at Presque Isle Downs on Monday, August 17, 2026. The race honors the exceptional race horse Princess of Sylmar and is for registered PA-bred fillies and mares, three years old and up, going one mile and seventy yards on the all-weather track. This year’s race received fourteen nominations.
Bred by Ed Stanco and born in 2010 at Sylmar Farm near Christiana, PA, Princess of Sylmar made her racing debut at two in a five-furlong maiden race at Penn National. She finished fourth. In her second race at Penn National, she stretched out to one mile and showed her brilliance. She won by nineteen lengths. Trained by Todd Pletcher, she moved to his barn at Aqueduct for her third start and won an allowance race by five lengths.
Racing for Ed Stanco’s, King of Prussia Stable, Princess of Sylmar was stabled at Aqueduct for the start of her three-year old season. She dominated the three-year old filly races and began her three-year old campaign with a win in the Busanda Stakes. She won by seven and a half lengths. Her next start was the Busher Stakes which she won by seven lengths. On May 3, 2013, Princess of Sylmar won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks defeating Close Hatches, Beholder, and Dreaming of Julia.
In July, 2013, Princess of Sylmar won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga Race Course, and a month later, she won the prestigious Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga.
In September of 2013, Princess of Sylmar took on older fillies in the Grade 1 Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park. She won by two lengths beating Royal Delta. The Beldame was a “Win and You’re In” race for the 2013 $2 million Breeders’
Cup Distaff Stakes in California.
Against Stanco’s original decision not to run in the Breeders’ Cup, Stanco and Pletcher changed their minds after winning the Beldame, and Princess of Sylmar shipped out to California. Usually closing from off the pace, she failed to rally, and unfortunately, finished last.
Princess of Sylmar enjoyed an unprecedented three-year old winning streak. She won four Grade 1 stakes in a row and a total of six stakes as a three-year old.
Princess of Sylmar started her four-year old season by winning the Cat Cay Stakes at Aqueduct. She finished second in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Belmont and was second in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap at Delaware Park. After finishing fifth in the Personal Ensign Stakes, Princess of Sylmar developed a case of the “thumps”, and owner Stanco, and trainer, Pletcher, decided to retire her. She retired with a record of fifteen starts with nine wins and three seconds and earnings of $2,017,220. She was one of the leading fillies of her generation.
From the first crop of Majestic Warrior and the first foal out of Storm Dixie, Princess of Sylmar was the first horse that Ed Stanco bred. Stanco bought and raced Storm Dixie, but she only won once in ten starts. He decided to breed her, and his life changed. In 2013, Princess of Sylmar won Pennsylvania Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year Old Filly of 2013.
Stanco entered Princess of Sylmar in the Fasig-Tipton November Sale as a broodmare prospect. She sold for $3.1 million to Shadai Farm in Japan where she produced several winners.
Post time at Presque Isle Downs is 3:30 P.M.
