'Stubborn' Runhappy Works a Mile at Keeneland

Jim McIngvale's reigning champion male sprinter Runhappy continued to tune up for the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park, putting in a one-mile work in 1:39 at Keeneland the morning of Oct . 19.

While trainer Laura Wohlers originally wanted to work the son of Super Saver   wire to wire, the 4-year-old colt was extremely obstinate under exercise rider Marcus O'Donnell and needed a good deal of prodding before he ultimately broke off at the three-eighths pole. The duo clicked off splits of :13 1/5, :24 3/5, :36 3/5, :48, 1:00, 1:12 2/5, and 1:25 1/5, with Runhappy looking a bit hot as he came off the track.

Wohlers also worked Runhappy a mile in 1:38 4/5 Oct. 12 and said she was more encouraged this time around with how the defending Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) winner handled the second part of his move.

"Our biggest key today was to get him to pick it up around the second turn more because last week he really didn't," Wohlers said. "Last week, he kind of did three eighths and then kind of got slower. He's going into a two-turn mile so it's important that second turn was good, and the second turn he did in about :23. So that was good. But I'm happy with it. We wanted him to understand this is not just a one-turn thing."

The antics Runhappy displayed prior to his work, Wohlers acknowleged, are "something he does every day." She said he has become a bit more "stubborn" as he has gotten older. Despite his tendancy to get distracted, Wohlers said the team is not concerned about the amount of morning training traffic he is going to encounter once he ships to Santa Anita Oct. 23, citing the colt's success when he captured the $300,000 Malibu Stakes (gr. I) there last December.

"He was always like that last year and we used to let him stand around for 30-40 minutes ... and that became kind of a bad habit," Wohlers explained. "So, this year we've tried to get him to stop that. It kind of negates the warm up when you have to stand for 20-30 minutes. He's always been really bad when things distract him and wanting to stop ... but hey, we're getting ready to go to Santa Anita and we went through it last year. And now with two strong works, he doesn't need to do a whole lot going into the race."

In the Dirt Mile, Runhappy will attempt to earn his first win beyond seven furlongs. His only losses in nine starts have come at a mile and beyond, with the first being a ninth-place finish in the 2015 Lecomte Stakes (gr. III) and his most recent defeat coming when he finished fourth in the $100,000 Ack Ack Stakes (gr. III) going eight furlongs at Churchill Downs Oct. 1.

The Ack Ack was also Runhappy's first start since the Malibu as he has been plagued this year with bone bruising in his right front cannon. He has been on an ambitious catch-up schedule ever since, but Wohlers maintains they have not lost faith in what his blazing speed can accomplish on a big stage.

"I do think he will go the (mile) distance," Wohlers said. "I would have liked to have maybe seen the mile (works) be a bit quicker. We would have liked not to have to be rushing him so much, but he needed that time off. We'll see how it goes."

Bred in Kentucky by Wayne, Gray, and Bryan Lyster, out of the Broken Vow mare Bella Jolie, Runhappy has won seven of nine starts with $1,486,250 in earnings. He was a $200,000 Keeneland September sale graduate in 2013.