Runhappy works a mile for Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

Champion sprinter Runhappy worked a mile in 1:39 on Wednesday at Keeneland, his final local move before heading to California for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

There were some prework antics from Runhappy, who vans in to work at Keeneland from his base at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky. The colt typically pauses when turned around to gallop, taking a long look around at the racetrack grandstand and increased activity compared to his base. However, he was extremely reluctant to break into a gallop Wednesday for regular exercise rider Marcus O’Donnell, a trainer at the Thoroughbred Center.

The colt resisted O’Donnell’s aids, including the stick, around the clubhouse turn and well into the backstretch, at one point veering out sharply, before finally settling into his move near the three-eighths pole to complete a one-mile lap.

“He’s just stubborn, and he’s gotten worse as he’s 4,” trainer Laura Wohlers said. “He always was like that last year, and we let him stand around if he wanted to, and that became kind of a really bad habit. This year, we’ve tried to get him to stop that. He loves the distractions [at the racetrack].”

Runhappy turned in splits of 13.20 seconds, 24.60, 36.60, 48, 1:00, 1:12.40, and 1:25.20 en route to his one-mile clocking of 1:39.

Runhappy, who won last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, is targeting the Dirt Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. He finished fourth in the Grade 3 Ack Ack on Oct. 1 at Churchill Downs, his first start of 2016, after a lengthy layoff necessitated by foot problems and bone bruising. Since that event, configured as a one-turn mile, he has had two one-mile works at Keeneland to prepare him for the two-turn configuration at Santa Anita.

“Today was to get him to pick it up around the second turn more because last week he didn’t,” Wohlers said. “He’s going into a two-turn mile, so I think it’s important that that second turn was good. He did [that portion] in about 23, so I’m happy with it. Our key today was to make sure that this time on the second turn he picked it up and understood that this wasn’t just a one-turn thing.”

Runhappy is scheduled to ship to Santa Anita on Sunday and will have a final work, likely a maintenance move of half a mile, five or six days prior to his Breeders’ Cup race. O’Donnell will accompany the team to Santa Anita, but Wohlers is not certain yet if he or jockey Gary Stevens will be aboard the colt for his final work.