It was a successful end to August for RUNHAPPY when he registered two winners on Thursday and Following Sea finished third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) on Saturday.
Runnin Happy became RUNHAPPY’s eighth juvenile winner of the year when the filly easily won a Canterbury Park Maiden Special Weight over 5 ½ furlongs on debut.
Runnin Happy split the field in the dirt race down the backstretch before a hole opened in front of her on the rail. It didn’t take long before Runnin Happy was confronting the pacemaker in the turn, entering the stretch in contention for the lead. Down the stretch she had to dig in to take command but inside the final furlong, she started pulling away.
The victory came one race after RUNHAPPY’s Own The Town won over a mile on the dirt at the track.
Owned by Stone Bridge Investments, Runnin Happy had been flashing her talent in her works, registering two bullets in her last four breezes with a third work the second fastest of the day a week before her race.
Bred by Jeff Prunzik, Runnin Happy is the second winner from two to race out of her dam High West, a half-sister to Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Middie. High West is out of the dual stakes winner Sweettrickydancer, who is one of two stakes performers for her own dam.
RUNHAPPY is sitting at 36.4% juvenile winners to runners this year, a higher percentage of 2021 juvenile winners than both leading General Sire Into Mischief and this year’s leading Two-Year-Old Sire Caravaggio among others.