RUNHAPPY --- Breeders' Cup Sprint
 

I've been following this guy since his debut, which was absolutely freakish (google it and view it if you haven't seen it). I had some email exchanges with the owner, James McIngvale, after the debut and was excited to see him in the LeComte.

He had an absolutely miserable trip in the Ky Dby prep at FG and apparently had a hairline fracture that put him out for a while.

His acceleration is absurd. It will be very interesting to see what happens when running with an equally absurdly fast runner in Private Zone. At this point, I think there is an outside chance that Runhappy might be one of the great sprinters (I know, this will look silly when he carries a piano in the stretch after Private Zone beats him down early).

He doesn't race with drugs (no Lasix) and has been slow out of the gate in many of his races. He had a tough outside post at Saratoga and waltzed. He missed the break from the rail, a dead rail at Keeneland that day, and waltzed.

I think it might be a similar Sprint to that of the 1987 when Very Subtle and Groovy just put the pedal down and went the whole way 1st and 2nd.

Anyone share this opinion or am I overly hyping him?

I share your opinion. Very talented. Big time.

For me I just don't think he ran a 113 at the SPA. That's what irks me. He is VERY good but maybe not GREAT enough to beat Private Zone.

They ran 30 minutes apart at the SPA that day.

Run Happy was 3/5's faster but Private Zone absolutely jogged gate to wire that day. I truly think if Private Zone had a challenge he would've broken the track record.

I won't try and seperate them though. I'll use both in picks and just get past the race. They could seperate big time from the rest of the field.

The slow starts thing is a concern as is the no Lasix and inexperienced big race/day trainer. This is a 6F race and he's been winning at longer distances w slow starts?

I agree he comes into the race at the top of his game and he is lightly raced.
The big negative is the Trainer.

I love Private Zone, was sold on him until I saw total number of starts 30 is a lot. I still may use him, can't lie

I'm leaning towards to lightly raced Horses with great last race speed.

Runhappy has been a rush job ever since that ridiculously green debut back in January. The owner stated he would be conservative for a change following the maiden win, yet the horse shipped and was stretched out against graded stakes company second time out. Never mind that he was in tight and checked into the first turn of that race, he would have been up the track anyways, particularly since he emerged from the race with a hairline fracture (best guess a shin).

But don't let a broken bone slow you down. Within 5 months the horse is back at it, and sent to the big leagues via Ellis Park where he had his coming out wiring the King's Bishop in a fast time. Followed that up with a score in the slop at Keeneland, but he drifted out terribly down the lane under heavy whipping which won't be a recipe for success at the BC. Perhaps the physical issues are rearing their ugly heads once again?

Meanwhile, his connections have embraced his rank, runoff tendencies (horsemanship at its finest) and let him rip in two subsequent workouts. A ridiculous sub-:58 5f move from the gate last week and an ill-timed, feet-in-the-dashboard 6f in 1:09+.

If he makes it to the race, complete toss.

This year's Sprint looks ordinary at best, but Private Zone is no win machine and hasn't seen 6f this year. At this early stage, he seems like a good bottom wheel with his tendency to hit the board.

In the absence of a top-class middle distance horse (e.g., Wicked Strong), I'll settle for an off-the-pace second tier horse. Kobe's Back and Big Macher fit the bill. Salutes Amigos might come along to fill out a slot, too.

Agree with almost all this, but no way I can take Kobe's Back at 6f with his unbelievably bad gate habits. His is money burner of the highest order and I can't take him even in this suspect field.

drifting is a problem. Kobe's back will be major upset considering where he's positioned at 2nd , stretch call in prior races .. he always has half the field to get by. There's always one horse that won't be caught. And his Bris PP is low. Anyway Eurton's daughter will be pounding Kobe down.

Masochistic interests me. say you don't read too much into the last race.

I like this post good writeup.

While PZ hasn't seen 6 this year, he's an amazing gate horse with a great first step, I don't worry about the distance with this horse.

The Kobe horse has a big kick but in such a big field it's hard to imagine he's going to out kick the entire field, not sold on his gameness either. Maybe he's better as an underneath key.

I'm thinking total meltdown. No way do I think Kobe's Back is top class. But he could emulate fellow bridesmaid closers like Elmhurst and Cardmania if he can duplicate his last race (minus the missed break).

His only win this year I think was at Keeneland, which helps one take the bitter pill.

Private Zone doesn't have Runhappy type of speed. Runhappy's only issue is his gate woes. If they ever work out his issues at the start he'll be a top 5 sprinter of all time.

A lot goes into finding your way into a top all time list, but the most important thing is spectacular management.

Top 5 far from it..Here's 5 top of my head
Housebuster
Groovy
Phone Trick
Safely Kept
Smile

Groovy that was dusted twice in the BC?

Anyway, let's keep this on topic. We can start a GOAT thread after the BC :)

The last thing you want from a front running sprinter is a bad start. He's had some of the worst starts I've ever seen from a horse who likes to lead. His races at Turfway and Indiana downs were Arazi like.

Runhappy is a very interesting handicapping dilemma. His performance in the King's Bishop was almost identical in fractions and final time to Seattle Slew's track record performance in his 3yo debut at Hialeah. This was a bit of a shock to me, not that he won, but the way he won, because Saratoga is not a very fast surface. If you look at the times through the last several meets, considering that the best horses in the sport race during that meet, the times are rarely that quick. Saratoga is not Santa Anita.

But then Runhappy runs faster than Private Zone, at the same distance, and also runs a much better race than American Pharoah.

I don't believe in flukes. If the Saratoga track was not souped up after the Ballerina came up slow (the race prior to the King's Bishop), then Runhappy is, indeed, a potential champion sprinter.

Some have speculated that Saratoga watered the track heavily after the slow Ballerina, which would make sense since you don't want to get criticized if American Pharoah runs slow. Also, although the Kings Bishop was very fast, the track did seem to get slower in each subsequent race, which also makes sense, because if they watered the track heavily prior to the King's Bishop, that would have been the fastest race, as the track would get drier as the day went on, but still have the extra moisture they were looking for.

Runhappy came back and beat a very tough field at Keeneland. The speed figure he earned in that race is probably a better gauge of his ability than the Saratoga race. That would make him about equal to Private Zone, although Private Zone is more battle tested since he is older and has a very good resume.

It's a tough one. I can't fault anyone who wants to make Runhappy a bet against, but he did draw the rail, and not a very good one, at Keeneland last time out and I thought he was a bet against that day. At the same time, it's hard to fault those who think Runhappy is a potential great sprinter. The key question is, was the track souped up for the King's Bishop? Or was it the regular kind of dull Saratoga strip? If it was the regular Saratoga track, then Runhappy ran a race as impressive as Seattle Slew, and that would make him very tough to beat regardless of who's running against him.