Runhappy one work from return in Ack Ack

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Runhappy, the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter of 2015, is scheduled to have his final serious workout Sunday at Keeneland before his eagerly awaited comeback.

Trainer Laura Wohlers said Runhappy continues to progress at his home base at the Thoroughbred Center training facility in Lexington, Ky., just across town from Keeneland, and that the colt will be all set to return to the races next Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs.

The Sunday breeze will be the fifth for Runhappy since the 4-year-old colt returned to training following a couple of physical setbacks that have kept him from racing since December.

“He two-minute-licked [Wednesday] and is doing very well,” said Wohlers, who trains Runhappy for her brother-in-law, James McIngvale.

The one-mile Ack Ack will be the lone prep for Runhappy prior to the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita. Churchill racing officials are having a difficult time rounding up a sufficient number of opponents for Runhappy in the Ack Ack, for which entries will be taken Wednesday.

Tom’s Ready, the winner of the Grade 2 Woody Stephens in June, was supposed to be the main challenger, but trainer Dallas Stewart said he may wait instead for the $350,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park on Oct. 8. Other known Ack Ack prospects at this early juncture include Rise Up, Schivarelli, and possibly The Truth Or Else.

◗ Bradester, the winner of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster here in June, is one of the 24 nominees to the Ack Ack, but trainer Eddie Kenneally has confirmed that he will run next Saturday at Churchill in the $175,000 Lukas Classic.

The 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic will help determine whether Bradester will run next in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or Dirt Mile, said Kenneally. Bradester is 3 for 4 this year, including two stakes victories at Monmouth Park. He most recently was eighth in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.

The $100,000 Jefferson Cup at 1 1/8 miles on turf also will be run here next Saturday.

◗ Stewart has decided on the Grade 1 Beldame next Saturday at Belmont as the final prep for the BC Distaff for Forever Unbridled. Stewart had considered running her in the Oct. 9 Spinster at Keeneland or just training her up to the Distaff. Forever Unbridled won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn in April.

With Cavorting and Curalina reportedly training up to the Distaff, the Spinster favorites could be I’m a Chatterbox and Paid Up Subscriber, the one-two finishers in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap in July. Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Paid Up Subscriber would have two Churchill breezes, including one this weekend, in her first moves since finishing fifth Aug. 27 in the Personal Ensign at Saratoga.

◗ Trainer Brad Cox is drawing a line through the fifth-place finish by Spelling Again in the recent Open Mind at Churchill and will run the two-time Grade 2 winner back in the Oct. 8 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland. The 4-year-old filly was never a factor as the 13-10 favorite in the Open Mind.

“She was kind of stuck down inside, and she’s a bit of a quirky filly,” said Cox. “We know she’s better than that, so we’re going to give her another shot.”

◗ Three Churchill regulars will be missing here Sunday to ride the big Oklahoma Derby card at Remington Park – Florent Geroux, Brian Hernandez Jr., and Ricardo Santana Jr.

◗ Hernandez and his younger brother Colby were first and second in the third race here Thursday. Colby opened up a big lead on My Sweet Stella in the one-mile turf race before Brian and Wicked Lick pushed past in the final yards.