Laugh Track surprises in Vigil
Gary Barber and breeder WinStar Farms’ Laugh Track pulled off the upset just
before the wire over two-time Canadian champion Essence Hit Man in Sunday’s
Grade 3, $150,415
Vigil
Stakes at Woodbine.
Laugh Track pressed the hot pace of :23 and :45 which was set by 3-5 favorite
Essence Hit Man. Just when it looked like the defending champion was going to
pull away in the stretch, the Mark Casse charge launched a determined drive and
reeled in the leader late to prevail by a half-length.
“I just wanted to stay where the horse wants to be and be patient,” rider
Luis Contreras said. “He (Essence Hit Man) moved a little early at the quarter-pole and that gave me the opportunity to close at the end.”
Laugh Track crossed the wire in 1:21 4/5 for the seven-furlong
Polytrack test and paid $4.90 to win as the 7-5 second choice after show and
place wagering were canceled. The four-year-old colt banked $91,117
from his first stakes score to boost his bankroll to $243,567 from an 8-4-2-1
line.
Essence Hit Man had to settle for second, while Burnum was another 4 1/4
lengths back in third and City Wolf finished fourth.
Laugh Track broke his maiden over the track in his third start on August
29. The bay closed out his three-year-old campaign with an allowance win in
October and was not seen again until April when he was victorious in an optional
claimer over Keeneland’s Polytrack. He was exiting a fifth-place finish in the
Alysheba last month at Churchill.
“We got him from Norman Casse (Mark’s son and assistant trainer) at Churchill
and he said the horse had been training really well down there,” assistant
trainer David Adams offered. “We targeted this race all along and thought he had
a good shot.”
The son of Distorted Humor was bred in Kentucky and is out of the Grade
3-placed, stakes-winning Touch Gold mare Flaming Heart. His granddam, Hot Lear,
produced Grade 3-placed Dash for Money, and his third dam is Grade 3 scorer
Medicine Woman.
Laugh Track was sold last year for $180,000 at the Keeneland November sale.
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