Runhappy Works 7 Furlongs at Keeneland

James McIngvale's Runhappy continued to progress toward a return to the races with a seven-furlong work Sept. 8 at Keeneland. Last year's sprint champion male was clocked in 1:24 3/5.

The work, clocked by bloodstock agent Finn Green, had a six-furlong split of 1:12. Runhappy worked in near darkness a few minutes after 6 a.m. ET.

The move was the third in successive Thursday mornings for the 4-year-old son of Super Saver  , as he went three furlongs in :34 4/5 Aug. 25 and five furlongs in :58 Sept. 1. As usual, Runhappy was shipped from his base at the Kentucky Training Center to Keeneland for the move, however with the activity for the upcoming September yearling sale, he was unloaded at Barn 60 on Rice Road as opposed to Barn 31 near the track's grandstand.

A bit stubborn early on the track under exercise rider Marcus O'Donnell, he jogged by the grandstand going the opposite direction, then came back by along the outside fence. He stood on the first turn for a bit, then jogged to the backstretch where he stopped again. Coming by the stands again slowly, he picked up the tempo and was sent on his way at the seven-eighths pole.

Green noted Runhappy's "independence." McIngvale's daughter, Laura McIngvale Brown said: "He's stubborn. He is who he is."

"He's progressing, and his work was nice and he was in control," said trainer Laura Wohlers. "We wanted a more controlled work. He needs to learn that he doesn't have to do (:11 for an eighth of a mile) all the time. He did do some (sub-:12) in the beginning, but this work was better. It was more like his breeze before the King's Bishop."

It's been just a little more than a year since Runhappy won the NYRA.com King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Race Course, his first stakes score. He followed that with victories in Keeneland's Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (gr. III), the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), and Santa Anita Park's Malibu Stakes (gr. I).

Looking to stretch him out, Wohlers' plan is to start Runhappy in the one-turn-mile Ack Ack Handicap (gr. III) Oct. 1 at Churchill Downs, with an eye toward the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) in Southern California.

Wohlers Runhappy will ship to Louisville next week for a work from the gate at Churchill. Jockey Edgar Prado is slated to be up.

Brown and Wohlers both noted how quickly Runhappy cooled out after the move.

"The most important thing is how he looks good cooling out," Wohlers said. "He looks good."

"He's such a freak. He's scary to be around," Brown said.

Bred by Wayne, Gray, and Bryan Lyster, Runhappy is out of Bella Joie, by Broken Vow  . Runhappy's half brother, by Exchange Rate  , is cataloged as Hip 208 and slated to sell early in the second session of the September sale. The yearling is consigned by the Lysters' Ashview Farm.