Runhappy (Grade 3)- $175.000 Purse
AQU- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
May 11, 2024

This Saturday, we will have a field of eleven heading to the starting gate for the seventh edition of the Grade 3 Runhappy at AQU. The race has typically taken part at BEL, but we are at that point of the year again where we will be talking about those races being moved to the Big A. We had a dead heat in last year’s race, which was at BEL, between California Sun and Rudy Is With Me. California Sun, trained by Royalty Stables, had a productive rest of the year, but has not won since the race and was sold in February. Rudy Is With Me was the third winner in the Runhappy for Mb Stables and would win two more graded races by the end of the year. He remains active but has recently been going a little longer. Neither are here to defend their titles, so let’s see those who strive to become the next one to run happy in the Runhappy:

1- Gorilla Glue (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by K Carmouche)- This four-year-old has won five times, and had success in ungraded races. At the moment, his biggest win came last October in the $250.000 Perryville at KEE. Hasn’t been seen in graded races all that much, but last month at KEE he did run fifth in the Grade 3 Commonwealth. Not going to be a first choice in a race like this, but certainly is very capable of getting it done.

2- Natural Instinct (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- Looking to be the trainer’s fourth winner in the Runhappy. Most of this career has seen him running at least a mile, and he did hit the board in some good races, such as the WV Derby. However, he didn’t get another win after his maiden until he cut back to six furlongs at TAM for an allowance where he went wire to wire. Last month, he tried to do the same in the Grade 3 Fleet Sprint Handicap but needed to settle for second.

3- Polymath (Gdp Inc., ridden by L Saez)- Bounced around in class over the last year, and has also been one that has gone long recently. He does have wins in two of his last four starts, so that is promising, but they are each in overnights. That stretch also includes a second-place effort in the $65.000 Lad Handicap, but these are all races at a mile or more. Has not run in a sprint in ten months and while the works are good, he’ll need to be ready for the wire to come sooner than he is used to.

4- Disciplinary (Nakamura Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- Comes into the race off of a win in the $125.000 Shackleton at GP at the end of March. That would be his third victory in six races, with the other two coming in overnights. His SRF’s are high, and while he has some great works going longer, we’re going to see what he can do in a sprint. This is a name that we will remember from 2021 and 2022 in some top graded races, and the trainer is hoping he can return to that level.

5- Quality Road (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by F Pennington)- The last two races for this one have not been kind to him, only beating one horse in each of the races. He has now had two months off, and the trainer will be hopeful he can get back to being the Quality Road that we saw last November in the Grade 2 Autumn Stakes, when he picked up a 102 SRF in the victory. He’s bounced around being sprinting and going long for his career.

6- Knoblauch (Angelos Stables, ridden by D Davis) – Since arriving at Angelos Stable after being claimed for $40.000, Knoblauch has four wins in eight starts, with many of those races coming with the CA-bred condition. Among those, was the $150.000 CA Cup Sprint that he won. Despite that, we have not seen him in another stake race until now, and he has otherwise been in starter allowances. Each of them were a strong effort, resulting in a win and a second. Good to see him getting this chance in what is his graded debut.

7- Long Capo (Asgar, ridden by L J Luzzi)- Up until his last race, Long Capo could be counted on to jump out to the lead and look to go wire to wire. He had success with that, either winning the race or finding himself running second in a close photo with the winner. We did not see him run that tactic in his last race, which was the $125.000 Big Daddy. Mind you, he was not a long way behind the leaders, but he was at the back and needed to make a late bid in the mud. He did exactly that, winning the race, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the trainer approaches the start here.

8- Plan To Wheel (Fractious, ridden by D E Centeno)- Six months ago, Plan To Wheel finished second in the BC Sprint and has made three starts since then. Each were in Grade 3’s, but none of them resulted in wins. In his two races in 2024, his best result was fourth in the San Carlos, netting him $4.000 in earnings on the year thus far. For a BC runner up, more is expected, and on paper he seems to be due. Plan To Wheel is a 37-race veteran now, and you can see some occasional cold spells going back a bit in his past races. After two months of rest, it’s time for him to bounce back.

9- Indiscretion (John Henry, ridden by Mario Gutierrez)- We don’t know the scale of John Henry’s return at the moment, but it’s good to see him back in the game and running at this level. Indiscretion is a horse that he picked up on St. Patrick’s Day for $241.000, and three weeks later he ran here in the Carter Handicap and placed third. He had run in many LA-bred races for his prior connections and had success in them and will be one to watch under John Henry’s guidance. Indiscretion is an appealing horse in this field.

10- Top Of The Crop (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R R Maragh)- Every now and then, Top Of The Crop will have a race that he does not show up in. That is what happened last month in the Fleet Sprint Handicap at OP, but the good news is that he typically bounces back very well from those races. The prior dud that he had was in November at an optional claimer, and he won his next race. He is still working well, so I don’t feel there is any other reason to be concerned about the Fleet Sprint Handicap other than the inconsistent nature of this horse. Should bounce back here.

11- West Coast Party (Martyparty, ridden by J R Velazquez)- It certainly was a west coast party for this one back in November when he won the BC Sprint at SA. So, then, why has he not been in a stake since then? Now, in my own role in this division, I have discovered that it can be hard to find spots that aren’t handicaps with a weight disadvantage, so maybe that is all there is to that. We last saw him in an open allowance at SA in what was a pretty good field. He ran third, less than a length behind the winner, R Lopez. Excited to watch him run here and expect him to do well even though he is not my pick to win.

Prediction: 9-11-10-2

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES