Runhappy is Soaring, and McIngvale is On a Winning Streak

Mattress Mack is having some month.

When Alluring Lady (Runhappy) won a maiden special weight race at Aqueduct on Jan. 24, the filly's victory kicked off a torrid streak for her sire. Over a 25-day period, she was one of eight Runhappys to win a race, a list that includes his first stakes winner, Gander S. winner Nicky The Vest.

The Aqueduct winner came just 14 days before Jim McIngvale won the biggest bet of his life, cashing for $3.2 million after betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to cover the spread in the Super Bowl. On Thursday, Whoopi Goldberg, on her show The View, suggested that McIngvale be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his on-going efforts to provide, food, heat and shelter for residents of Houston that have been hit hard by the vicious winter storm.

“We have an obligation and a responsibility to help the people because they have helped us so much,” said McIngvale, who has provided shelter for hundreds of people at his Houston furniture store.

Runhappy's sudden success would have been hard to predict back in the early fall. McIngvale was offering a $100,000 bonus to any offspring of Runhappy that won an open maiden race at Saratoga, the summer meet at Del Mar or Kentucky Downs. Not only did the sire fail to produce a winner at any of those three meets, but his progeny was struggling throughout the country. Through September, he had produced just two winners.

“I certainly never gave up on him,” McIngvale said. “I did that 2-year-old bonus that created a lot of hype and then my sister-in-law reminded me that the great Runhappy didn't win his first race until December of his 2-year old year. I made a boneheaded mistake promoting him like I did when his first crop was just two.”

What McIngvale didn't know at the time was that the Runhappys would turn out to be late developers that prefer going a distance, a surprise since the sire was the 2015 Eclipse Award winning sprinter.

“The people from Claiborne kept telling me that the great Bull Hancock always said you can't judge a stallion until their first crop has gotten through their whole 4-year-old year,” he said. “I believe in the Claiborne philosophy. Certainly, his 3-year-olds are, so far, doing very well. Win, lose or draw, I'm always pleased with Runhappy, but right now he is on a roll.”

The streak has vaulted Runhappy to the number three spot in earnings on the TDN's year-to-date second crop sire list, where he leads by winners with nine.

Among the recent winners, Nicky the Vest could turn out to be the best. A New York-bred owned by Robert LaPenta and trained by Jonathan Thomas, he kicked off his career with a maiden win in December before romping by 11 3/4 lengths in the Gander. His connections have said they will look for a traditional prep for the GI Kentucky Derby for his next start.

“I am very excited about Nicky the Vest,” McIngvale said.  “He's got great connections behind him and they absolutely know what they're doing. He is exciting and so is the horse (Run Classic) that won other day at Fair Grounds. There are a lot of exciting Runhappys out there.”

McIngvale owns several Runhappys, but has had little success with them. He said that should change later on this year.

“We have a lot of quality 2-year-olds by Runhappy,” he said.  “With our 3-year-olds, a couple of them have had some nagging injuries and are still coming around. We're really optimistic about the 2-year-olds. We've got some nice ones that are fast.”

Before the streak began, Runhappy's stud fee for this year was cut from $25,000 to $10,000. Had they had more time to make a decision, that may not have happened. But McIngvale said he is fine with the new fee.

“I am a value guy,” McIngvale said. “Cutting the stud fee makes Runhappy the best value in the stallion book, especially considering what he has done recently. He should have a good year. We're in this for the long term and not just for one season.”

While the new stud fee may cost McIngvale some money, he's in a good position to absorb some of the loss. When he bets, he bets a lot. Just prior to the Super Bowl, McIngvale flew to Colorado, where sports betting is legal, and bet $3.46 million on the Bucs after logging on to a DraftKings mobile betting app. He got Tampa Bay and Tom Brady at +3.5 points. With Tampa crushing Kansas City, the outcome of his bet was never in serious doubt.

“There wasn't a lot of tension in that game so I didn't have to sweat it out or throw anything at the television,” he said.

McIngvale often links his large wagers to promotions at his stores, Gallery Furniture. But for now, he's more focused on helping out a community in need. He said he decided to open his stores up to the public after driving down a Houston street and witnessing paramedics deal with a homeless person who had apparently died of exposure.

“We hope to be back to normalcy,” he said. “But until then, we're here for Houston because tough times never last for us Texans. Tough people do. And we're tough Texans.”

He has also been busy putting together a new ad campaign for Runhappy, which debuted this week. McIngvale is still quite the promoter and this time he has something to promote.

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Saturday’s Insights: Expensive Sophomores Kick Off Careers at Fair Grounds

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

4th-FG, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 6f, post time: 2.29 p.m. ET

A number of freshly minted sophomores who were pricey sales horses kick off their careers in this six-panel maiden, led by Tom Durant’s RUN CLASSIC (Runhappy), a $475,000 OBS purchase  (:20 3/5) and the highest-priced juvenile to sell by his sire. Trainer Bret Calhoun sends him to post, where he will have to face former $650,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling Constituency (Candy Ride {Arg}). The CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm runner, who is conditioned by Dallas Stewart, is out of stakes-placed Zermatt (Tiznow) from the family of Breeders’ Cup champ and MGISW Rushing Fall (More Than Ready). They’ll both have to get by Susan Moulton’s Gunner Paul (Exaggerator), a $150,000 OBS buy (:10 2/5), whose year older half-sister, Merneith (American Pharoah), ended 2020 with a listed stakes win at Keeneland on Breeders’ Cup Saturday before a third in the GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita. Gunner Paul hails from the barn of Wayne Catalano. On the also-eligible list is OXO Equine’s Koolhaus (Nyquist), a $600,000 Keeneland November weanling whose dam is a half-sister to champion Lady Eli (Divine Park) and MGSW Bizzy Caroline (Afleet Alex). He’s one of two Brad Cox entrants in the field. TJCIS PPs

OSCAR PERFORMANCE HALF-BROTHER DEBUTS

4th-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo, 1mT, post time: 1:10 p.m. ET

PERFORMING ARTS (Dansili {GB}), a half-brother to four-time Grade I winner and promising young sire Oscar Performance (Kitten’s Joy), makes his debut for trainer Brian Lynch. The Amerman homebred is also a half to millionaire Oscar Nominated (Kitten’s Joy). Jose Ortiz is booked to ride. Courageously (Quality Road), a $625,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by John Oxley, showed speed and reported home third behind impressive next out Dania Beach S. hero Kentucky Pharoah (American Pharoah) in his debut over course and distance Dec. 19. Trainer Mark Casse adds Lasix this time. Alexander Valley (Medaglia d’Oro), the second-most expensive horse to switch hands when bringing $2.15 million from Godolphin at the 2019 KEESEP sale, switches to grass following a well-beaten sixth on debut for Bill Mott Dec. 12. He is the first foal out of GISW Tara’s Tango (Unbridled’s Song). TJCIS PPs

SOPHOMORES SLUG IT OUT IN TWO-TURN ALLOWANCE

8th-Fair Grounds, $55K, Alw/Opt. Clm., 3yo, 1 1/16m, post time: 4:25 ET

About 2 1/2 hours prior to the running of the GIII Lecomte S., a field of 10 3-year-olds take in this allowance test that could toss up a starter or two for races like the GII Risen Star S. and GII Louisiana Derby over the next couple of months. MANOR HOUSE (Upstart) was one of two in the field whose connections toyed with the idea of the Lecomte before setting for this obviously softer spot. The Florida-bred has one previous start to his credit, a 12 1/4-length, gate-to-wire romp going Laurel’s one-turn mile Dec. 12, good for a 76 Beyer Speed Figure. The Newtown Anner colorbearer looks to have held his form with a pair of strong local breezes on display. Angkor (Anchor Down) was a well-backed graduate first time out, scoring by four lengths at Churchill Nov. 1, and got valuable two-turn experience when missing by a dirty nostril in Louisville Nov. 22. Gagetown (Exaggerator), a two-length debut winner sprinting at Churchill in November, stretches out off a solid runner-up effort behind the talented Quick Tempo (Tapizar) in the Dec. 19 Sugar Bowl S., while Beep Beep (Tapizar), who was also cross-entered in the Lecomte, tries a distance of ground, having raced away to a 3 1/2-length victory on his seven-furlong Churchill debut Nov. 29. TJCIS PPs

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