Oaklawn Park notes: Get Happy Mister, winner of Gold Rush Futurity, in Von Hemel's barn

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Get Happy Mister, who won the $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity at Arapahoe Park in August with a Beyer Speed Figure of 91, is now based at Oaklawn. The horse was freshened after the futurity by trainer Butch Gleason, who this fall made arrangements to send Get Happy Mister to trainer Kelly Von Hemel.

"He's a big, good-looking colt," said Von Hemel, who is based at Oaklawn.

Get Happy Mister has won his four career starts by a combined margin of 31 1/4 lengths. In the Gold Rush Futurity, he zipped six furlongs in 1:08.60, winning by more than nine lengths over a host of shippers. One start earlier, Get Happy Mister was a seven-length winner of the $31,000 Silver Cup Futurity at Arapahoe. A Colorado-bred son of First Samurai, he is owned by Tangarae Farms.

Von Hemel said plans are still being discussed for Get Happy Mister, but that he could be considered for the $60,000 Gazebo for 3-year-olds at six furlongs March 2.

Manewal, the runner-up in the Gold Rush Futurity, is part of an eight-horse field for Friday's featured eighth race at Oaklawn. The $62,500 optional claimer for 3-year-olds carries first-level allowance conditions. It will be run over six furlongs. Others set to start include Loosenthesecondary, a Fair Grounds shipper for trainer Michael Stidham, and Chuck, who in his last start won a division of the Oklahoma Stallion Stakes at Remington Park.

◗ The earliest Oaklawn will begin accepting horses from Hawthorne is Feb. 3, according to a memo issued Wednesday by Arkansas Racing Commission state veterinarian Joe Lokanc. Hawthorne experienced an outbreak of equine herpesvirus earlier this year, and the state of Illinois recently lifted its quarantine of horses based at the track near Chicago.
"Our ban on horses from Hawthorne is still in effect," Lokanc said. "The length of the ban is based on the last positive test of any horse at Hawthorne. Based on what we know now, the earliest that horses from Hawthorne could be allowed at Oaklawn is after Feb. 3. And that date is subject to change pending further developments."
When the ban ends, horses from Hawthorne will need specific approvals and medical records before shipping into Oaklawn.