Runhappy Filly Scores for Sunday Morning Farm

As Chip Leader crossed the finish line to be second in the 2018 Ben Ali Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 14, his half sister by Runhappy  was being foaled at Rosilyn Polan's Sunday Morning Farm.

During the Sept. 15 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, that dark bay or brown filly consigned as Hip 1491 was purchased by Empire Thoroughbreds, agent for Yehuda Cohen's Kingsport Farm, for $370,000.

Produced from the stakes-placed Tapit  mare Anchorage, the filly descends from a deep female family that includes grade 2 winner and sire Broken Vow .

"She's a great big, lovely filly with a great walk from a lovely family," said Empire Thoroughbreds' Finn Green, who was an adviser to Runhappy's owner James McIngvale while the champion sprinter was on the track. "The family goes back to the dam of Broken Vow. That's good blood. She's lovely."

The filly's sale represented a nice windfall for Polan, who owns about a half dozen mares that are maintained on her farm in Central Kentucky that backs up to the historic Woodford Reserve Distillery.

"We're all just super lucky," said Polan, who purchased Anchorage privately while in foal to Will Take Charge . "I had to borrow 100% of the money to buy her and I had not owed money for decades."

The subsequent filly out of the mare was sold as a weanling for $130,000 and eventually was pinhooked into the 2018 Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training when she was acquired by Ed Savant Jr. for $525,000. Named Tijori, the filly owned by Kaleem Shah is competing on the Southern California circuit with trainer Simon Callaghan.

After Anchorage produced a 2017 Will Take Charge colt, the mare was mated to Runhappy.

"I had seen Runhappy and he was a 'have to have,'" Polan said. "After great deliberations of the pedigree patterns she was the only one of my mares that would do. This filly is just a really fast horse."

As a small breeder, Polan has one client whose mares she boards and she leans on her staff to maintain the operation, noting that Cain Marcuzzi was instrumental in working with the Runhappy filly all summer.

"I couldn't do it without my help," said Polan, whose daughter Laiken Ross was assisting at Keeneland's Barn 9. "They're fabulous."