Happyanunoit hurt, retired

DEL MAR, Calif. - Happyanunoit, one of the top turf females of the last few years, has been retired because of an injured ankle ligament, owner John Amerman said on Thursday.

She was being pointed for Saturday's Grade 1 Ramona Handicap at Del Mar at the time of the injury, earlier this month.

Happyanunoit, a 6-year-old, won nine of 21 starts and $1,581,366. She won at least one major stakes from 1998 to 2001 and six in her career. She was bred in New Zealand, where she won a Group 1 race against males in March 1998 - the seven-furlong Produce Stakes.

Purchased by the Amerman family in late 1998, Happyanunoit developed quickly for trainer Bobby Frankel, ending her 1999 campaign with victories in the Vinery First Lady Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park.

In 2000, her only win came in the Grade 1 Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park, but she placed in five other stakes, including a second in the Beverly D Stakes at Arlington. This year, she won the Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap and finished second in the Bevery Hills.

"She's been terrific," John Amerman said. "She had a great personality and a great name."

Amerman said no plans had been made as to which stallion Happyanunoit would be bred to next year.