Runhappy

Ellis Park is increasing its base purses by 20% starting with Friday's races, the track announced Sunday. The increase boosts the purses of all overnight races, which are claiming, maiden and allowance races. It comes on top of a $6,000 per-race increase in Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) purse supplements announced last week for non-claiming maiden and allowance races. With the hike for the remaining three weeks of the RUNHAPPY Summer Meet at Ellis Park, maiden special weight (non-claiming) races will have a purse totaling $46,200 for Kentucky-bred horses and...

Jennifer McVoy is a Licensed Master Social Worker and the founder of Out Side In, located in Grand Haven, MI, who grew up riding and showing Arabians. Her first educational degree was in business and she began her work life in the corporate world, but, early on, she decided that it wasn't for her and went back to school to earn her Master's Degree in Social Work. For 15 years, she practiced traditional therapy in a public-school setting and was always aware that horses could make a difference for people...

If anything, you would think it the very last thing that might appeal to one who has spent decades acquainting himself, at viscerally close quarters, with all the things that can go wrong with a Thoroughbred. Yet here he is, sharing the same vicissitudes as those clients for whom--weighing the ups and downs of their trade--his veterinary skills so long served as a vital fulcrum. As one of the original partners of the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, Dr. Scott Pierce could scarcely have gone into breeding with fewer illusions....

Dismissed at longshot odds after drawing in from the also-eligible list, Libertyrun (Runhappy) sprinted clear in the final furlong to get his sire (by Super Saver) off the mark in Wednesday's fourth race at Indiana Grand. Debuting in the colors of owner/breeder Jim McIngvale as a 23-1 gamble, the Louisiana-bred jumped well and put himself right into the mix, settling about four off the inside and just off the pace into the turn. Between rivals on the bend, Libertyrun was confidently handled by Miguel Mena, responded when set down in...

A talented and deep field of eight will line up for Saturday's highly anticipated 127th renewal of the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park. An unlucky second behind the mighty Mitole (Eskendereya) in last year's contest, 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) figures to vie for favoritism. He was first or second in all seven of his starts in 2019, led by a win in Saratoga's GI Whitney S. and a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The four-time Grade I winner made up for a dismal...

Two-year-old runners will have additional incentives to shoot for this summer at Del Mar as the track will have bonus programs centering on freshman stallion Runhappy, as well as a unique package for all juveniles in its maiden special weight division. The Runhappy arrangement is the culmination of a two-year sponsorship Del Mar established last year with owner and breeder Jim McIngvale. If able to win one of Del Mar's $50,000 maiden special weight races, offspring by Runhappy will receive an additional $100,000 bonus. "I think you'll see his babies...

A filly by Into Mischief (hip 429) turned in the fastest furlong work of the week so far (:9 3/5) and a pair of juveniles shared the day's fastest quarter-mile time during Tuesday's third under-tack preview session ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. A filly by Street Sense (hip 493), consigned by Pick View, and a colt by Runhappy (hip 1266), consigned by S B M Training and Sales, both covered the quarter-mile distance in :20 3/5. Five juveniles have turned in...

In 2018, Wendy Cyr wasn't quite ready to get another horse but often scanned the available off-track Thoroughbreds on the Thoroughbred Adoption Network. This time was different. She came to a dark gray one-eyed mare named Cosmic Serenity (Cosmonaut- Gracefully Done) aka Serena, listed by ACTT Naturally. Cyr's last horse was a gray mare named Serena who had to be euthanized at age 20 and her childhood mount was an off-track Thoroughbred with one eye who took her through pony club. She showed the post to her husband. "My husband...

The Runhappy bonus program, which will reward owners of 2-year-olds by Claiborne Farm freshman sire Runhappy (Super Saver) $100,000 for winning an unrestricted maiden race at Saratoga first time out, has been extended to the corresponding races at the Belmont meeting, set to kick off the week of June 1. The bonus will be paid by owner Jim McIngvale, who campaigned Runhappy to victories in the GI King's Bishop S. and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint en route to being named champion sprinter of 2015. "We're really excited about the New...

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has added a supplemental catalogue to its upcoming Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and the 78 additional horses are now listed on its website, www.obssales.com. Among the 15 siblings to graded stakes winners in the supplemental catalogue are a half-sister by Frosted (hip 1271) to GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Spun to Run (Hard Spun); a half-brother by Runhappy (hip 1266) to GII Amsterdam S. winner Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) and a half-sister by Outwork (hip 1261) to GIII Honeybee S. winner Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil). The...

Even if most racing is delayed, we're all hoping it will get underway sometime this spring or early summer, if for no other reason than so we can all find out the answer to our annual favorite question. We surveyed some top judges on who their leading first-crop sire is, and to give us some under-the-radar picks as well. NICK HINES Uncle Mo will have a really good look as a "sire of sires" this year with Laoban, Outwork and Nyquist all entering the breeding shed as freshman sires in...

Even if most racing is delayed, we're all hoping it will get underway sometime this spring or early summer, if for no other reason than so we can all find out the answer to our annual favorite question. We surveyed some top judges on who their leading first-crop sire is, and to give us some under-the-radar picks as well. DAVID INGORDO My top two picks are between Nyquist and Runhappy, but I will probably give Nyquist the number one slot. We bought several Nyquists ourselves and I've seen several at...