Runhappy Returns as Title Sponsor of Ellis Park Meet

Runhappy will once again be the title sponsor of Ellis Park's upcoming meet, which runs from July 8 through Aug. 28. The Runhappy Meet at Ellis Park will be highlighted by an Aug. 14 card of five stakes races: the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby; $100,000 Runhappy Audubon Oaks; $125,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Juvenile; $125,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Debutante; and the $125,000 Groupie Doll S.

Runhappy won at Ellis Park during the summer of his Eclipse championship season, so we're happy and excited to support the upcoming race meet again, especially on the 100th anniversary of the track,” said Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, CEO of Gallery Furniture and owner of Runhappy.

Ellis Park will also offer “Runhappy Dollar Days” every Sunday of racing, with $1 hotdogs, $1 popcorn, and $2 beer. The backside is also slated to receive new sports equipment and the track will sell t-shirts throughout the meet with 10% of profits donated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), courtesy of Runhappy.

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Sharp Tests the Resale Market

George Sharp, who made high-price horses of racing age purchases last year, will be in action as a seller at Wednesday's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training where he will offer two juveniles. The pair is part of a group of 12 yearlings he purchased at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“I took a shot last year that, if I bought enough yearlings, maybe I could sell a few of them to pay for the rest,” Sharp explained.

While he is reoffering horses he bought just last fall, Sharp eschews the term pinhooker.

“I hate the word because it makes me sound like a professional pinhooker,” Sharp said. “If it works out for me this year, I will do it again. If it doesn't work out for me this year, then I probably won't do it again. I wanted to see if I could pay for whatever 2-year-olds I keep by selling a few. Currently I own 23 2-year-olds. Nobody needs that many.”

Sharp's Gulfstream's duo are consigned by Niall Brennan. Hip 50 is a colt from the first crop of champion West Coast out of stakes-placed Runway Ready (Mr. Greeley), who is a half-sister to graded winners Corfu (Malibu Moon) and New York Central (Tapit). Sharp purchased the bay for $75,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Hip 64 is a colt by Runhappy out of Sue's Good News (Woodman). The 2-year-old is a half-brother to Grade I winner Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow) and stakes winner Bulletin (City Zip), as well as to the dam of Grade I placed Souper Sensational (Curlin). He was purchased for $125,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The West Coast is training out of his mind,” Sharp said. “As is the Runhappy. The Runhappy has some solid family behind him and, from what I understand, has been turning some heads at Gulfstream. Runhappys are making a bit of a comeback, as far as value, and–without mentioning any names–somebody told me this is one of the top three horses in the sale.”

Both juveniles enter the Gulfstream sale already named, with hip 50 named O T C Wiz and hip 64 now named Unhappy.

Of the second name, Sharp said with a chuckle, “I named him Unhappy because I thought it was cute. I couldn't believe it was available. It's not easy naming 23 2-year-olds. It took me like two weeks.”

Sharp, whose first involvement in racing came with Standardbreds in the late 1990s, went to a sale-topping $440,000 to acquire Front Run the Fed (Fed Biz) at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age sale. He purchased stakes winner Hello Hot Rod (Mosler) for $335,000 at the Fasig-Tipton February sale.

Following his Gulfstream offerings, Sharp will sell a further three juveniles at the OBS April sale next month.

The under-tack show for the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale begins at 9 a.m. Monday. The auction will be held Wednesday in the track's paddock with bidding beginning at 2 p.m.

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Rotknee A New Stakes Winner for Runhappy in Damon Runyon

The progressive Rotknee (Runhappy) took his current winning streak to three, running out an easy winner of Sunday's Damon Runyon S. at the Big A.

Drawn widest in a field of five, the homebred showed the best early speed and angled over to the fence in the opening furlong, forcing odds-on Best Idea (Honor Code) to be checked for half a stride. Going strongly on the engine beneath Manny Franco, Rotknee turned them in a couple of lengths to the good and kept on gamely to become the seventh stakes winner for his second-crop sire (by Super Saver).

Runner-up on debut in the Belmont mud July 9, the Butler homebred went pillar to post to graduate at Saratoga the following month before hitting the shelf. The dark bay picked up where he left off with a three-length defeat of entry-level state-bred allowance foes Feb. 11.

William Butler acquired Rotknee's second dam for $65,000 at the 2005 OBS April Sale and raced her to six wins and a pair of New York-bred stakes placings for earnings of nearly $241,000. Mama Theresa was bred by former TDN publisher Barry Weisbord and Peggy Santulli and is a daughter of Nothing Special, a stakes winner and Grade II-placed galloper for Weisbord who also produced GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and multiple Empire Classic S. hero Haynesfield (Speightstown).

In Spite of Mama is the dam of Rotknee's 2-year-old half-brother Mama's Gold (Bolt d'Oro), a yearling filly by Audible and was most recently bred to War of Will. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

DAMON RUNYON S., $97,000, Aqueduct, 3-13, (S), 3yo, 7f, 1:27.06, ft.
1–ROTKNEE, 122, c, 3, by Runhappy
1st Dam: In Spite of Mama, by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Mama Theresa, by Carson City
3rd Dam: Nothing Special, by Tejabo
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O/B-William J Butler (NY); T-Michael J Maker; J-Manuel Franco. $55,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $156,350.
2–Agility, 120, c, 3, Practical Joke–Singing Doe, by Running Stag. ($160,000 Wlg '19 FTNMIX). O-Parkland Thoroughbreds; B-Hidden Lake Farm LLC, 3C Thoroughbreds, West Point Thoroughreds, et al (NY); T-Jorge R Abreu. $20,000.
3–G Munning, 120, c, 3, Munnings–To the Nines, by Super Saver. ($50,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $90,000 Ylg '20 FTKSEL; $275,000 2yo '21 FTFMAR). 1ST BLACK-TYPE. O-Flanagan Racing; B-Clark Brewster & Gold Square LLC (NY); T-John C Kimmel. $12,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, 5 3/4, NO. Odds: 2.30, 5.40, 13.40.
Also Ran: Best Idea, Mister Larry.

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Smile Happy Possible for Florida Derby

Lucky Seven Stable's Smile Happy (Runhappy) is among possible candidates for Gulfstream's GI Curlin Florida Derby Apr. 2, according to trainer Ken McPeek. Lucky Seven Stable also owns McPeek-trained Rattle N Roll (Connect), who is scheduled to make his 2022 debut in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 5 at Gulfstream. Smile Happy had been expected to make his second start of the year in either the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 9 or the GII Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds Mar. 26.

“You may see him in the Florida Derby,” said McPeek, who saddled Harlan's Holiday for a victory in the 2002 renewal. “I'm going to try and keep him and Rattle separated because they have the same owner. You'll see one in the Blue Grass and one in the Florida Derby following the Fountain of Youth.”

Smile Happy and Rattle N Roll are both stabled at Gulfstream. Smile Happy had a series of six workouts at Gulfstream prior to his second-place effort in the Feb. 19 GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds.

“This is a really good horse,” said McPeek. “He ran well in New Orleans. I think he could have been a tad closer, but the pace didn't set up well for him. He still showed real bravery to run late. This horse has a very bright future.”

Smile Happy won at first asking at Keeneland Oct. 29, closing from off the pace to win easily going 8 1/2 furlongs. He returned to capture the Nov. 27 GII Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs by 3 1/4 lengths, defeating Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), who subsequently won the GIII Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa and third-place finisher White Abarrio (Race Day), winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream in their respective 2022 debuts.

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