Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf: Laughing likely to take shot at title

With a potential championship on the line, Flower Bowl winner Laughing is likely to be supplemented to the Breeders’ Cup for $100,000 to run in the $2 million Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, trainer Alan Goldberg said Tuesday.

Perfect in four starts this year, all in graded company, Laughing could join one of the better casts for a Breeders’ Cup race this year, one that also is expected to include Beverly D. winner Dank and top Southern California-based mares Tiz Flirtatious and Marketing Mix.

Laughing’s likely participation is an about-face from what her connections initially said after the Flower Bowl, when owner Richard Santulli noted concerns about how poorly she travels.

Goldberg said Tuesday that she is a filly that simply is comfortable in her routine. Laughing is based in New Jersey at Colts Neck Training Center, where she can train away from the racetrack and have turn-out time in a paddock to settle her nerves.

This year, she hasn’t had to travel far, going to Monmouth Park, Saratoga, and Belmont, all by van on the day of her races, Goldberg said.

Goldberg said he intends to send her to the Breeders’ Cup provided she trains well and breezes to his satisfaction the next two Saturdays. She will be required to be on the grounds at Santa Anita the Wednesday before her race and would fly to California the Tuesday of Breeders’ Cup week, along with another filly to keep her company.

Goldberg said the motivation to run was influenced by her top condition after the Flower Bowl and the championship implications of the Breeder’s Cup.

“If she’s doing well, you might as well take your shot,” he said.

Laughing’s Flower Bowl triumph provided her with an entry-paid berth in the race, but her connections still must pay the supplemental fee. Based overseas earlier in her career, she was not an original Breeders’ Cup nominee.

Laughing has used her speed effectively this year, setting soft paces in several of her victories, including the Flower Bowl. And she may again prove the controlling speed of the Filly and Mare Turf, based on the prospective lineup, especially if Vionnet, the pacesetter in the Rodeo Drive and that race’s third-place finisher, does not run.

Vionnet would be a longshot in for the Filly and Mare Turf. She also is being considered for the one-mile Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, trainer Richard Mandella said.

Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Keeneland is one of the few races left that could potentially produce additional Filly and Mare Turf starters.