Top 'Prize' Goes to Hi Happy in Man o' War

Hi Happy | Adam Coglianese

Hi Happy (Arg) (Pure Prize), the 2015 Triple Crown winner in Argentina, justified 9-5 favoritism while earning his first Northern Hemisphere win at the highest level in Saturday evening's GI Man o' War S. at a rain-soaked Belmont Park.

“It was just a perfect trip, exactly what we were hoping for,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He delivered a big performance. We're very proud of him. We'll see how he bounces out of it. I suppose the [GI Woodford Reserve] Manhattan is a possibility.”

One Go All Go (Fairbanks) went right to the front here as Hi Happy tracked him in second through fractions of :23.95 and :49.50. The pacesetter threatened to get away from them heading for home, but Hi Happy called on all his stamina to wear that one down and then held off Sadler's Joy (Kitten's Joy) by 3/4 of a length. One Go All Go held third.

“He was right there in the perfect position,” winning jockey Luis Saez said. “We had a feeling we would be right there, but everything came so well. When we came to the three-eighths, he was ready to run. I felt the other horses coming, but he never gave up. He was always trying, so I just kept going with him and he finished very strongly.”

A three-time Group 1 winner and Horse of the Year in his native country, the chestnut made four starts in California for Felipe Souza before being transferred to the powerful Pletcher barn. He was third in the GI Gulfstream Park Turf Feb. 10 before besting One Go All Go by a convincing margin in the GII Pan American S. back in Hallandale Mar. 31. One Go All Go had annexed the GII Elkhorn S. at Keeneland in the interim.

Pedigree Notes:

Hi Happy is a full-brother to a pair of South American Group 1 winners in Hinz (Arg) and Hispanidad (Arg). The latter, born in 2013, is the most recent produce for their dam. Historia was the 2015 Broodmare of the Year in Argentina. Hi Happy's second dam Honoris Causa is a half-sister to Fit to Lead (Fit to Fight), a graded winner on these shores at Churchill Downs, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park and runner-up in the 1993 GI Hollywood Oaks.

Saturday, Belmont Park
MAN O'WAR S.-GI, $700,000, BEL, 5-12, 4yo/up, 1 3/8mT, 2:14.79, gd.
1–HI HAPPY (ARG), 121, h, 6, by Pure Prize
1st Dam: Historia (Arg), by French Deputy
2nd Dam: Honoris Causa, by Miswaki
3rd Dam: Islands, by *Forli
O/B-La Providencia LLC (Arg); T-Todd Pletcher; J-L Saez;
$420,000. Lifetime Record: Horse of the Year, Ch. 3yo Colt, Ch.
Stayer-Arg, MG1SW-Arg, 13-8-0-2, $1,137,961. *Full to Hinz
(Arg), G1SW-Chi; Hispanidad (Arg), G1SW-Chi. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sadler's Joy, 124, h, 5, Kitten's Joy–Dynaire, by Dynaformer.
O/B-Woodslane Farm (Ky); T-Thomas Albertrani; J-J R
Leparoux. [bullet ad=”timber-town-foaled”][bullet ad=”eqb-cardioclient”]3–One Go All Go, h, 6, Fairbanks–See Ashleigh Run, by
Marquetry. ($62,000 HRA '17 KEENOV; $40,000 2yo '14
FTIMAY). O-Paden Rodney; B-Albert Coppola (Va); T-Charles
Dickey; J-C Landeros. [bullet ad=”taylor-made-tm-for-you”]Margins: 1/2, 1/2, 1 1/4. Odds: 9-5, 5-2, 7-1.
Also Ran: Call Provision, Catcho En Die (Arg), Postulation, Bigger Picture, Wake Forest (Ger). Scratched: Money Multiplier, Scholar Athlete. Click for the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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