Laughing Fox Earns Preakness Bid at Oaklawn Park

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Laughing Fox posted his first career stakes victory in the inaugural $300,000 Oaklawn Invitational Stakes May 4 at Oaklawn Park. The win gave the Union Rags  colt an automatic berth to the May 18 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course.

With Ramon Vazquez in the irons, Laughing Fox raced near the back of the field as Proverb took control through fractions of :22 4/5 and :46 4/5 for the first half-mile. The winner came four wide into the stretch after being as far back as ninth of 11 and ground out the win by a neck over Night Ops, who had stalked the pace throughout. Proverb held on for third.

The final time was 1:49 3/5 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track.

"He's a nice horse," Vazquez said of Laughing Fox. "When I asked him, he gave me everything. I had a lot of horse before the quarter pole. He's a nice horse and was working well in the morning."

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Laughing Fox broke his maiden Jan. 25 and returned Feb. 18 to win an allowance race at Oaklawn. He then finished seventh in the second division of the Rebel Stakes (G2) prior to his start in the April 13 Arkansas Derby (G1) in which he fourth-place after making a late bid.

"He held his weight so good," Alex Lieblong said. "I sent Steve and Darren (Fleming) both a text, I guess it was Thursday. I said, 'Look guys, if the horse is holding his weight, fine, but if it looks like he's tired any at all, let's don't go. Don't go for my sake.' And Steve gave the answer back, 'Hey, I'm leaving that to you and Darren.' ... I came over and watched him and, if anything, I think he put on weight since the (Arkansas) Derby.

"So, we'll just have to see how he does come bouncing out of (Saturday's race). But he's a stout horse. The Preakness really had nothing to do with it. Nothing. Purse wasn't bad—don't get me wrong. He fit and he was doing well. The horses he ran behind in the Arkansas Derby I thought were very legitimate horses in the Arkansas Derby."

Bred by Chester and Anne Prince, Laughing Fox is the third foal and second winner from as many to race out of the Stormy Atlantic  mare Saskawea. The Lieblongs went to $375,000 during the Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he was consigned by Harris Training Center.