Runhappy Looking for Dirt Mile Win

Wohlers on Runhappy: “He’s like Usain Bolt”

By: Claudia L. Ruiz

The competition is steep — as it is every year — in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt mile, but Trainer Laura Wohlers is feeling confident in Runhappy’s abilities to run a solid race, going as far as comparing the 4-year-old to Olympic Gold medalist sprinter Usain Bolt.

Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner, Runhappy will face steep competitors in this year’s Dirt Mile, including Gun Runner (third in the 2016 Kentucky Derby), Dortmund (third in the 2015 Kentucky Derby), and Tom’s Ready (winner of the Gr.3 Ack Ack); and, unlike his competitors, has only run one race since January.

“It’s going to be a pretty tough race,” Wohlers said on November 3. “Dortmund has proven to be a really good horse and has home track advantage, and Gun Runner has been a dynamite horse this year. Vyjack, if he likes the dirt as much as he likes the turf, I think we’re all in trouble. All of the races are compiled with some really great horses and the dirt mile is no exception.”

Bone bruising in his right front cannon bone sidelined the colt in early 2016 and kept him out of the starting gate for nearly ten months. He returned to the races on October 1, finishing fourth in the Gr.3 Ack Ack stakes at Churchill Downs. “The track was pretty heavy the day he ran in the Ack Ack, but he needed that race. We would have liked to have run him in 2-3 races before the Breeders’ Cup, but that’s not how it played out.” The son of Candy Ride finished 2 ½ lengths behind winner Tom’s Ready, who will also run in Friday’s Dirt Mile.

Yet, despite the time crunch and lack of races under his belt, Runhappy’s connections feel he will fire when the gates open on November 4. “I feel like he is sitting on a big one and he really loves this track,” exercise rider Marcus O’Donnell said.

“If I had to compare him to a famous athlete,” Wohlers said of her trainee, ” I would say [Jamaican Sprinter and Olympic Gold medalist] Usain Bolt — he’s so fast. Runhappy broke some records as a 3-year-old and [like Bolt] is very fast; his strength is definitely his tactical speed. It’s going to be a tough, but I’m confident in [my horse].”

Runhappy will break from post #7 and take on eight other horses in the $1,000,000 Gr.1 Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, set to run on Friday, November 4, at 3:05 pm PST.