With Hall of Famer John Campbell at the controls, the four-year-old daughter of Badlands Hanover-Zinful, who captured her preliminary legs in 1:54.1 and 1:52.3, front-stepped to a 1:53.3 victory in the final for trainer Tony Alagna.
Laughandbehappy sat just off the speed while Jawjackin rolled the field to the quarter pole in :27.3. Campbell quickly hit the accelerator in the backstretch, and in a matter of strides Laughandbehappy cleared to the position of command. She cruised through middle splits of :56.2 and 1:25.1 before sprinting home in :28.2 en route to the 1:53.3 decision. Balasun rallied from last to finish second and third prize went to Bryans Ideal.
“She was winning in the Midwest before she got here, and it is something to adapt to the racing style here – you can’t just go to the front all the time,” said driver John Campbell, who recently welcomed a new grandson into the family. “She’s gotten strong every start and she’s learning how to race and she’s actually a little lazy on the front but she responds when you ask her.
“Once Yannick [Gingras driving Jawjackin] got to the front I thought I could get back without using my mare too hard. I was sure she would race well on the front, and she performed as I expected her too. I think she’s going to get better because she’s always pacing down at the wire. For as many starts as she’s had she’s a little bit green, but she doesn’t get tired and that’s a good quality to have at the Meadowlands.”
Laughandbehappy, who went 12-for-14 last year, is now 3-for-3 to start the 2010 campaign for the partnership of Let It Ride Stables Inc of Delray Beach and Robert Cooper Stables LLC of Boca Raton, Florida. The lion’s share of the purse boosted her overall earnings to $60,699.