Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile: Runhappy shuttles between racetrack, farm

ARCADIA, Calif. – Runhappy, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and the nation’s champion sprinter, has had a busy schedule since arriving here at Santa Anita for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, to be run next Friday. He goes out to train well before dawn every morning, and every day has spent time at a nearby farm, taking advantage of outdoor paddocks, a bit of grass on which to graze, and sand pits in which to roll, something he can do in one facility at his home base in Kentucky.

After his daily track work around 5 a.m., Runhappy will take a mid-morning snooze, then a little after 10 each morning departs the grounds in his brightly appointed personal horse trailer for Sunshine Farms, a facility in neighboring Bradbury which is owned by Dick Hale. He’s back by 3 p.m., in time for his late-afternoon meal.

“He can pick at some grass, goes for a roll,” Laura Wohlers, his trainer, said here on Friday morning. “It’s easier at home at the training center.”

The last day Runhappy can maintain that schedule, though, is Monday. Horses entered in Breeders’ Cup races on Friday must be on the grounds by 11 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, cannot leave after that, and will be under 24-hour security, Dora Delgado, the senior vice president of racing and nominations for the Breeders’ Cup, said Friday.

:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2016: Pre-entries, odds, comments, and more

Horses in the Saturday Breeders’ Cup races have a deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday to be on the grounds.

◗ Vyjack may be forced into the Dirt Mile if he can’t get into the Mile, a situation that left trainer Phil D’Amato steaming about the process.

D’Amato was angered that Vyjack was ranked 17th for the Mile, despite winning the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile, the local prep for the Breeders’ Cup Mile. As a result, Vyjack may not get into the Mile, which was listed as his first preference at the pre-entry stage.

“I just think it would have been right for us to be able to make that decision,” D’Amato said Friday morning. “There are Europeans in the Mile who haven’t won a race all year. This isn’t the Ryder Cup. That’s what has me ticked off.”

The Dirt Mile had just 12 pre-entries, and already Bradester has dropped out, and Midnight Storm – also trained by D’Amato – will definitely run in the Mile. In addition, Gun Runner and War Story are pre-entered in the Dirt Mile and Classic, so the Dirt Mile field, even including Vyjack, could have as few as eight if both Gun Runner and War Story go in the Classic.

– additional reporting by Brad Free