Runhappy to get rest after Malibu Stakes

Runhappy, who won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31, was scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon, Dec. 3, at Santa Anita for a scheduled start in the $300,000 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds Dec. 26, said owner Jim McIngvale.

Runhappy is likely to be favored in the Grade 1 Malibu at seven furlongs, a fixture on opening day of the track’s winter-spring meeting.

“He’s happy, fit, and on the muscle,” McIngvale said in a phone interview from Houston.

McIngvale said plans call for Runhappy to be rested in the first two months of the 2016, with no schedule beyond that.

“The only thing in our thought is to come to California,” he said.

Runhappy has won 6 of 7 starts and earned $1,301,300. He was trained by Maria Borell for five starts, all wins, from July through the Breeders’ Cup. In a highly publicized decision, Borell was dismissed as trainer the day after the BC Sprint after a disagreement on training methods for Runhappy.

Laura Wohlers, who trained Runhappy for his first two starts and is McIngvale’s racing manager and sister-in-law, is the current trainer of Runhappy.