One Sweet Duck, ridden by Armando Viramontes, wins the $35,000 Virginia Hyland Stakes at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

© William Zuazo

By Orlando Gutierrez

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–APRIL 11, 2026–Lex Fabrizio’s One Sweet Duck proved she still has plenty of "fly" left in her, as the 6-year-old mare rebounded from a second-place finish in the $35,000 Virginia Hyland Stakes a year ago to win this year’s running of the 350-yard event on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Sent off at odds of 6-1, One Sweet Duck rewarded her supporters with a $15.80 payout by using her usual quickness away from the gate and then running a very professional race on the way to her 10th career win. The daughter of One Sweet Jess also picked up her first stakes triumph at the Orange County oval since the 2023 La Pacifica Handicap.

Breaking from the center of the track in post five, One Sweet Duck was second out of the gates but wasted no time ruffling the feathers of her rivals with her winning move. Utilizing her renowned gate speed and veteran strength, she accelerated her way to a half-length lead shortly after the break.

One Sweet Duck’s winning connections in the Virginia Hyland Stakes at Los Alamitos.© William Zuazo

Under a poised ride from jockey Armando Viramontes, she turned back a late surge from runner-up CCR Political Wrap to secure the victory by a neck in a sharp time of :17.534.

The $19,250 winner’s share of the purse pushed her career earnings to an impressive $142,298 across 28 career starts. And on this night, the pond at Los Alamitos belonged to the plucky One Sweet Duck, now a winner of five of her last six starts.

 “She’s been on a pretty good streak. She proved tonight that she can still compete,” said Fabrizio.

For the owner, the victory was also a validation of a patient, long-term strategy. After a busy campaign in 2023, in which she started eight times, the decision was made to give the mare the entirety of 2024 off to focus on her future as a producer.

 “The secret to her success is that we’ve been picking and choosing her spots where she can succeed,” Fabrizio added. “We’ll continue to do that. If we feel like she can do that, we’ll jump her up; if not, we’ll keep running her in the allowance races and see what we do.”

While One Sweet Duck was busy winning on the track, her legacy as a broodmare was already growing back home in Utah. Fabrizio revealed that during her time off, two embryos were successfully flushed from the mare.

 “I gave her all of 2024 off and I flushed two embryos out of her. We have two yearlings on the ground by Ocean Apart and they look fantastic. We keep them in Utah. We’re looking forward to putting them in training this fall and seeing what happens,” Fabrizio added.

The win creates a unique timeline for the Fabrizio stable, as the mare continues to race while her offspring prepare for their own careers.

 “There might be a day in the future where you might see her run on the same weekend as one of her babies, who knows?” laughed Fabrizio. “It’s been a ton of fun.”

Fabrizio also raced One Sweet Duck’s mother, the multiple stakes winner Duck Dash N Go. When the owner purchased Duck Dash N Go prior to the start of her 5-year-old racing campaign, she was already a 12-time winner and a Grade 1 stakes-placed mare.

The mare rewarded her new owner by winning six more races, including the Super Sound Charge Stakes at Los Alamitos in 2019 and a stakes race in Wyoming in 2021. One Sweet Duck is now about $21,000 away from matching her mother’s career earnings of $163,749.

Cedar Creek Tree Farm Ranch and Racing’s CCR Political Wrap earned $7,875 for running second. The Hector Magallanes-trainee was also fast away from the gate before drifting and then surging late to tighten the outcome at the wire. Erasmo Gasca rode the graded stakes finalist.

Randy Dickerson’s CM Cowgirls Are Cool earned $4,375 for running third for trainer Luke Lindsey. Terra Fina, VGK Zigfield Follies, Fairlea Flyin, Naïve, Budder Off Friends, and Competent completed the field.

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