Richard Santulli’s Laughing grabbed the lead at the start and slowed the pace
down significantly in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000
Flower
Bowl Invitational at Belmont Park, cruising through early fractions of :25
3/5, :51 2/5 and 1:16 while alone on the front end. That left the classy
five-year-old mare with plenty for the final furlongs as she recorded her fourth
consecutive graded stakes victory, scoring by a half-length over fast-finishing
stablemate Tannery.
Jockey Jose Lezcano provided another ideal ride as the daughter of Dansili
replicated her wire-to-wire successes in the Grade 1 Diana and the Grade 2
Ballston Spa on Saratoga’s turf. Conditioned by Alan Goldberg, Laughing started
her current win streak in the Grade 3 Eatontown at Monmouth Park in late June.
“She broke perfect and she went very comfortably the whole way,” Lezcano
said. “When I asked, she gave me the kick I needed to win the race.
“This was a very good race, especially going longer (than her last two wins
at Saratoga) today. I think this was her best race.”
Laughing completed 1 1/4 miles in 2:02 1/5 on the firm inner turf course. The
3-5 favored entry paid $3.20 to win.
“She’s better at a mile and a quarter when they go (three-quarters) in 1:16,”
Goldberg said. “It was great.”
Tannery rated off the pace in seventh before rallying wide into contention
off of the far turn and got by Mystical Star late for second. Mystical Star
raced within a few lengths of the pacesetter throughout and just missed
runner-up honors by a neck, finishing 1 1/4 lengths clear of fourth-placer
Qushchi. Kissable, Somali Lemonade, White Rose and Valiant Girl completed the
order of finish.
Laughing elevated herself into the discussion as a serious contender for
champion filly & mare turf horse. She is not Breeders’ Cup eligible and her
connections may bypass supplementing her to the Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita
on November 1.
“If somebody jumps up and runs a great race in the Breeders’ Cup, they’ll
just make them champion, but as far as anybody who has run, I don’t think
there’s anybody that’s done what she’s done this year,” Goldberg said.
“She’s won two Grade 1s, a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 (in her last four starts).
Who’s done better,?” Santulli added. “I told him (Goldberg) today, I don’t think
any of them can beat us. Tannery might beat her, but none of these horses.”
Laughing became a millionaire with her fifth career stakes coup, increasing
her earnings to $1,178,881 from a 15-8-2-2 line. Bred in Ireland by Floors
Farming and the Duke of Devonshire, the bay was purchased by her original
trainer, Charles O’Brien, for $460,411 as a Tattersalls October yearling.
Laughing first sported the silks of Mrs. John Magnier, breaking her maiden in
her third try as a three-year-old in Ireland and promptly following up in the
Nijinsky Stakes at Leopardstown.
Subsequently acquired by Santulli, Laughing made her North American debut in
the 2011 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, winding up seventh. She was transferred to
Goldberg ahead of her 2012 campaign, which was highlighted by a victory in the
Grade 3 Matchmaker and placings in the Gallorette Handicap, Athenia and Lady
Baltimore. Laughing was sidelined for eight months, but resurfaced with a mild
upset of the Eatontown in a course-record 1:39.26 for 1 1/16 grassy miles at
Monmouth.
Laughing is a half-sister to the world-class Viva Pataca, who reigned as Hong
Kong’s Horse of the Year and all-time leading money winner with more than HK$83
million in the bank. A two-time hero of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, he also won
a trio of Champions & Chater Cups, a pair of Hong Kong Gold Cups and the Hong
Kong Derby, among other titles. Viva Pataca’s lengthy list of placings includes
two more runnings of the QEII, as well as the Hong Kong Cup and Dubai Sheema
Classic.
Their dam, the winning Be My Chief mare Comic, is herself a half-sister to
multiple Grade 2-winning millionaire Brave Act. Laughing’s third dam, English
co-champion juvenile filly Circus Ring, is the ancestress of Italian
co-highweight Voila Ici; Australian champion filly Serenade Rose, heroine of
such major events as the V.R.C. Oaks and A.J.C. Australian Oaks; and current
multiple Group 3-winning sophomore Leitir Mor.
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