Runhappy
Following a hearing on March 31, a hearing officer assigned to the case by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation has recommended that the Corporation re-license trainer Maria Borell. The former trainer of Runhappy (Super Saver), she has not started a horse since 2016. The Corporation identified three grounds for attempting to deny the renewal application: 1) lack of candor; (2) failure to satisfy the financial-responsibility statute and regulation; and (3) the "where have you been?" theory, which questioned whether Borell's absence from Kentucky racing affected her horsemanship skills...
After finishing a respectable ninth last weekend in the GI Kentucky Derby, So Happy (Runhappy) has returned to his homebase in California as his connections decide what races are in his future after definitively ruling out the GI Preakness Stakes. The GI Santa Anita Derby hero was out on track Friday morning for a light jog. Trainer Mark Glatt reported that the Preakness had been ruled out for his first Kentucky Derby starter, but did not go as far as to rule out a start in the GI Belmont Stakes...
Even at 94, there are always new horizons. As his old boss liked to say: "Everything is ahead of us: the best play has not been written, the best song has not been sung, the best building has not been built." And, of course, the best horse not been bred. So far as his own program is concerned, however, perhaps Leverett Miller has now cracked that one. His boss was the architect Wallace Harrison, who made a lasting impact on the urban topography of the 20th Century, designing the United...
As we acknowledged a week ago, the contributions made by these horses to what we can turn into a narrative are wholly random. But it has meanwhile felt almost as though Gun Runner wanted to prove otherwise, after watching Into Mischief's feisty response to the spectacle of Not This Time stealing an early march in the general sires' table. Gun Runner's role in that exchange was to retreat sulkily to the wings, lamenting the injury to his top Classic prospect Paladin. Well, he's obviously too good for that. On the...
So Happy (Runhappy) was in fine fettle the morning after winning Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby. Saturday's Santa Anita Derby program drew an on-track crowd of 37,562, the highest for Santa Anita Derby Day since 2018. "He ate good and looked great this morning," trainer Mark Glatt said. "He seems to be in good spirits." The Santa Anita Derby was So Happy's second time racing around two turns. Previously, in the GII San Felipe going 1 1/16, So Happy was up close to sharp pace and yielded late to finish...
When So Happy (c, 3, Runhappy--So Cunning, by Blame) won his first two starts--both sprints--impressively, then yielded when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 7, it could be assumed he had distance limitations. After all, his sire was the 2015 champion sprinter and So Happy had kicked off his own career with a 6 1/2-furlong maiden win Nov. 22 and a GII San Vicente Stakes win at seven furlongs Jan 10 . So Happy ignored both the PPs and his sire's aptitude Saturday,...
So Happy (Runhappy), winner of the GII San Vicente going seven furlongs on Jan. 10, is likely to mark his return in the GII San Felipe on Mar. 7, according to trainer Mark Glatt Sunday. The 3-year-old posted a bullet six-furlong work in company Sunday at Santa Anita Sunday morning. So Happy, with Hall of Famer Mike Smith in the irons, worked with Grade II winner Mi Hermano Ramon (Creative Cause), who is a 6-year-old. Both were timed in 1:11.60, which tied for the fastest of 11 works at the...
Margarita Girl, making her first start since August, went from maiden winner to graded stakes victress when she charged home first in the GIII Las Flores Stakes at Santa Anita Sunday. The victory capped a big weekend for her co-owners, Hans and Ana Maron's Saints or Sinners, as well as trainer Mark Glatt, who captured the GIII San Vicente Stakes Saturday with So Happy (Runhappy). Breaking well to watch the race unfold as Thermal (Nyquist) set the tempo, Margarita Girl enjoyed a rail trip through an opening quarter in :21.74...
So Happy (Runhappy) took the lead in midstretch, and refused to come back, keeping his perfect record with a strong win in the GII San Vicente Stakes. The Mark Glatt-trainee entered this contest with only one prior jump to his name. In it, he was last seen breaking his maiden at Del Mar Nov. 22 by three quarters of a length over a field which included two next out winners and GSP Blacksmith (Liam's Map) at 38-1 long odds. There was a scramble coming out of the gate as rivals...
Edited Press Release With a stud fee for multiple Grade I winner Mindframe (Constitution--Walk of Stars, by Street Sense) still to be determined pending his start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, Claiborne Farm has released its advertised stud fees for 2026, with Grade I winner Prince of Monaco (Speightstown--Rainier, by Medaglia d'Oro) leading the way at $30,000. The fastest-ever 2-year-old by prominent sire-of-sires Speightstown, Prince of Monaco covered a Claiborne-record 176 mares, including 44 black-type runners in his first season at stud in 2025. GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner...
Racing has a serious integrity problem, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale believes, and that is why he has pulled the plug and is leaving the game entirely. The Blood-Horse was the first to report the story. "We couldn't compete with all the drugs and all the injections when we were running on just hay, oats and water," he said. "It was an uphill battle. Runhappy climbed that hill but the rest of them couldn't. I'm not going to damage my integrity by drugging them and injecting them. I do right by...
Collier Mathes's Chesapeake Farm has added Finn Green to consult and handle client relations and business development, it was announced in a release Wednesday. Chesapeake Farm operates on 2,000+ acres of leased land from Overbrook Farm and Wimbledon Farm in Lexington. Green is a fourth-generation Kentucky Thoroughbred horseman. He was racing manager for GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man and a consultant for champion Runhappy. He will continue to operate his deWaal Thoroughbreds, LLC consulting and management company while working at Chesapeake Farm. "Collier and I have known...