My Happy Face, Legacy stand out in Las Madrinas Stakes
CYPRESS, Calif. – Bettors face a simple decision Sunday, the closing day of the 11-day Los Alamitos fall Thoroughbred meet.
Only two of the five fillies and mares entered in the $75,000 Las Madrinas Stakes have a realistic shot. Picking between Legacy and My Happy Face is easy – heads or tails?
The average field size at Los Alamitos was 7.7 starters per race after eight days of the meet. Although the number represents an increase from the 6.9 summer average, it will decline Sunday. Two races on closing day attracted just five runners each, including the Las Madrinas.
My Happy Face is a graded stakes winner. Legacy is a Los Alamitos stakes winner. They are the principals in the Las Madrinas, a 1 1/16-mile race scheduled as the fifth race on the card.
Three others entered. They are Zilber, a Group 2 winner from South America making her third start in North America; Irish Presence, a Grade 3-placed closer; and Sprague River, likely to be the longest shot in the field.
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Peter Miller, the trainer of My Happy Face, will be busy Sunday with runners in five races. He starts the maiden 2-year-old gelding Life On Riviera, a first-time starter, in race 1; Lolo El Canonero in race 3; the maiden 2-year-old filly Backstreet Lisa in race 4; and older maiden claimer Royal Stack in race 6.
Miller also entered the longshot Sprague River in the Las Madrinas, but My Happy Face is his best chance. Her main rival is Legacy, trained by John Sadler. Legacy won the $78,000 Cypress Stakes in July at Los Alamitos.
Key contenders
My Happy Face (Last 3 Beyers: 83-72-84)
* My Happy Face arrived in California last fall with credentials. A Grade 3 winner at 2, she also placed in Grade 1 races at Belmont and Saratoga. Her progress stalled during the second half of her 3-year-old year. My Happy Face is 4. Miller hopes to see her best Sunday.
“I think she’s a better horse on dirt, and it’s her third race off a layoff,” Miller said. “She’s had some issues, both mental and physical, that we’ve had to deal with. It’s been a little frustrating, a little disappointing.”
* My Happy Face, third last out at Del Mar in an allowance, has won three races and $559,800 from 13 starts. She will be ridden by Elvis Trujillo.
Legacy (Last 3 Beyers: 72-89-78)
* The only entrant with a win at Los Alamitos, Legacy has won three of her last six starts on dirt. In her most recent start on Polytrack at Del Mar, she finished sixth behind Broken Sword.
* Joe Talamo rides Legacy, whose $151,300 earnings total makes her the third-most successful progeny of the stallion Sightseeing.