Absent from racing since July’s Stephen Foster, Lucky Seven Stable’s Smile Happy will make his returns to the races in Saturday’s $175,000 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds. Facing a field of seven older males going 1 1/16 miles, Smile Happy will have his work cut out for him, as FMQ Stable’s newly turned 4-year-old Saudi Crown has 8-5 morning line favoritism coming off a sensational campaign that earned him a spot in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic.  

With a 6:30 p.m. EST post time, the 78th running of The Louisiana is slated as race 12 on Saturday’s 13-race card, which features the Lecomte (G3) and the Silverbulletday, both prep races on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks that will award 20-10-6-4-2 qualifying points to the top five finishers. First post is 1 p.m. EST.

With a big 2023 seemingly on the horizon for Smile Happy after his impressive win in the Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs, the narrative took a turn for the Ken McPeek trainee after his pre-race antics and pursuant fifth-place finish in the Stephen Foster.

“He went through a period where he didn’t want to train, load in the gate, he was very difficult,” McPeek said. “The hardest thing is that he has a very strong will. He really likes training on the farm here in Florida and has had a really good series of works. We’ve been able to do some gate schooling. I run him with some trepidation because sometimes we don’t know how he’s going to act going to the gate. He’s very much an alpha and wants to do things his way. We’re cautiously optimistic that we’ve got him back to where we want him.”

Beginning on Nov. 4, the son of Runhappy has posted eight drills at Silverleaf Hills Training Center, McPeek’s facility in Ocala, Florida. Physically Smile Happy has been sound, but mentally he has been difficult to prepare for his races.

“Here at Silverleaf he can go out in the paddock, he can do a lot of different things,” McPeek said. “He has the same routine every day. As a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, he never did anything wrong. He started some of this really last spring when we were getting him ready. He won in an allowance race at Oaklawn and then came to Kentucky after that. Even at Oaklawn last winter he went through a stage where he didn’t want to train in the right direction. He’d go the wrong way but he wouldn’t go the right way. I think it has to do with that he needs the same routine, and our goal is to keep Smile Happy happy.”

Three for three going 1 and 1/16th miles, the 5-year-old horse has raced locally once before, finishing second to Epicenter in the 2022 Risen Star (G2).

“When he’s racing, I’m not sure exactly what sets him off, but you just have to be careful with him,” McPeek said. “In some cases he can be a very difficult horse to handle.”

Drawing post no. 2, Smile Happy will be reunited with his Alysheba pilot, Brian Hernandez Jr.

Heading into the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the 2023 Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown had never finished out of the exacta in five races for trainer Brad Cox. After pressing the pace through the opening three calls, he came up short of the 10 panels and finished tenth.

“He’s somewhat lightly raced,” Cox said. “We’re still trying to develop him. Hopefully this is the next step. We hope he can perform well and everything goes well and we can turn our attention towards Saudi. We’re hoping that he will be a top horse this year.”

Saudi Crown is being pointed towards the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Feb. 24. First, the 4-year-old gifted with gate speed will be tasked with a pace scenario in the Louisiana that could be taxing, as Five Star General and Kupuna will also have interest in the early lead.

“I’m not treating it like he has to be on the lead,” Cox said. “He’s a smart horse. He’s capable of sitting off. When he broke his maiden, he sat off horses. I really don’t think he has to be on the lead. It probably will be a situation where he will have to take a breath at some point, you can’t just run all-out throughout.”

Drilling five furlongs in company with Nash on Jan. 13, Saudi was positioned behind the Lecomte-entrant throughout as the duo had to maneuver a crowded Saturday morning frontstretch.

“It didn’t quite set up as well as we expected.” Cox said. “There were other horses out there and we got caught up with a little more company than we wanted. I was very, very happy with the breeze. He was a little wide through the lane and around the turn. Plenty fit. He had a good work the week before last. We just wanted him to cruise along the other day and he did. I think he’s set up for a big spot.”

Back to a distance proven to be in his wheelhouse, the place-finisher in the Dwyer (G3) and Jim Dandy (G2) will line up to the immediate outside of Smile Happy and likely be forward-minded under jockey Florent Geroux.

Winless at the Louisiana distance, Winchell Thoroughbreds’ newly turned 4-year-old Red Route One has also never faced older foes. However with $1,162,425 in earnings, the well-toured West Virginia Derby winner trained by Steve Asmussen has more in the bank than any rivals in the field.

“I’m kind of anxious for him,” Asmussen said. “One mile and one-sixteenth for him just starting back here, it is a starting point for the year. He is a horse that needs as much ground as we can find for him. I do like how he’s trained over the winter, and I’m anxious to see how he stacks up against the older group.”

Other top rivals include the Tenacious winner, Elttaes Stable’s Five Star General. The 8-year-old trained by Grant Forster proved his maturity when headed early in the Tenacious, only to settle, stalk, and pounce to win his third stake of the year. Winner of the 2023 Louisiana Stakes, Lothenbach’s Happy American will defend his crown for Neil Pessin after running third in the Tenacious last out.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last Start / Next Start	HRN
1		Red Route One Gun Runner	6.57	Steven M. Asmussen Joel Rosario	3rd, 2023 Zia Park Derby LS	Entered
Last Race		3rd, 2023 Zia Park Derby LS
2		Smile Happy Runhappy	7.24	Kenneth G. McPeek Brian J. Hernandez, Jr.	5th, 2023 Stephen Foster G1	Entered
Last Race		5th, 2023 Stephen Foster G1
3		Saudi Crown Always Dreaming	6.30	Brad H. Cox Florent Geroux	10th, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic G1	Entered
Last Race		10th, 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic G1
4		Happy American Runhappy	4.47	Neil L. Pessin Jareth Loveberry	3rd, 2023 Tenacious LS	Entered
Last Race		3rd, 2023 Tenacious LS
5		Five Star General Distorted Humor	5.56	Grant T. Forster Marcelino Pedroza Jr.	1st, 2023 Tenacious LS	Entered
Last Race		1st, 2023 Tenacious LS
6		Confidence Game Candy Ride	6.57	J. Keith Desormeaux Corey J. Lanerie	5th, 2023 Tenacious LS	Entered
Last Race		5th, 2023 Tenacious LS
7		Kupuna Hard Spun	4.09	W. Bret Calhoun Reylu Gutierrez	7th, 2023 R.A. Cowboy Jones LS	Entered
Last Race		7th, 2023 R.A. Cowboy Jones LS