Happy Jack: Best at the Sprint Game and If placed Properly Soon Winner

Five year old full horse for Doug O’Neill returned in the Kona Gold stakes on Saturday at six and a half on the main track for older runners. Off at 12/1 in a field of 8, and having not run since July of last year, he almost gave the 1 to 5 shot The Chosen Vron a big scare in this race. He broke OK under hot riding Dettori and sat 4th early on down the back side. He started his move at the 3/8 pole and was quickly up on “Vron’s” flank by the ¼ pole after Forbidden Kingdom had thrown in the towel. It looked like the favorite was in trouble at the top of the lane as “Jack” looked loaded and was going to cruise on by, but “Vron” still had plenty left in the tank and he found another gear to hold him safe down the stretch. The winning margin was a length and a quarter in the very fast time of 1:14.35 for the six and a half furlongs. Happy Jack, who competed in the 2023 Kentucky Derby, is best at the sprint game and he still has his 2nd allowance condition available. If O’Neill can place him properly, and that’s a big IF with this guy, he’s a soon winner off this bang up performance.

Next Upcoming Race:  

 

Happy Jack’s Race Information
Race Date:  April 27, 2024	Track:  Santa Anita		Race #:  4
Distance:  6.5 Furlongs	Conditions: stakes		Surface: Dirt
Trainer:  Doug O’Neill	Jockey:  Lanfranco Dettori		Track Condition:  FAST
Trouble Notes:  chased 3deep, bid 3wide, faltered			Track Variant:  +4
Finish Position: 2nd	Win Payout:  0	Place: Payout:  $ 6.00	Show Payout:  $ 3.40

Race Replay

Happy Jack – Santa Anita –  April 27, 2024

Happy Jack Performance Figures Earned
Race Condition Pars	Happy Jack Figures Earned
Race Class Level:  180	Running Style In Race:  Front Runner
Final Time Rating Par: 150	Final Time Rating: 146
CPR Race Par:  148	CPR Earned In Race: 143
Fast Fig Race Par:  134	Fast Fig In Race:
Key Race Winners: 3	Running Style In Race:   Front Runner
(click the links above to learn more avbout each figure and how to use them in your handicapping)

Generally horses that are on the Horses To Watch list ran into unexpected trouble, bad luck, and/or didn’t run the race we believe Happy Jack was cabable of.  We expected that if Happy Jack gets a good trip in their next start than we should see an improvement in Happy Jack performance figures.  Use the performance figures earned in Happy Jack last race (listed above) and compare them to the field and pars of Happy Jack next start.  If Happy Jack appears to have earned higher performance figures in the last race when running into trouble  as compared to the rest of the field’s expected perfomance in the upcoming race than there is a good chance that Happy Jack will dominate the race.

Helpful Tip:  So that it’s easy for you to compare a horse’s past performance, Today’s Racing Digest’s Performance Figures for upcoming races are based on how we expect the horse to perform in that race regardless of any changes in race conditions.  Learn More: