Runhappy, the champion male sprinter of 2015, has been sold to continue his stud career in South Korea as part of owner Jim McIngvale’s exit from the Thoroughbred industry.

News of McIngvale’s decision to leave the Thoroughbred business was first reported by BloodHorse, and Runhappy’s destination was first reported by Thoroughbred Daily News.

Runhappy, a 13-year-old son of Super Saver, previously stood at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where he entered stud in 2017. McIngvale told Thoroughbred Daily News that he did well financially with Runhappy at stud, but his ongoing issues with the Thoroughbred business on a number of fronts, including CAWs, drugs in racing, and integrity in the auction process, led to his exit.

“I have no idea how much money I’ve lost,” McIngvale told the TDN. “I had a lot of fun in horse racing and the people were great, but the cheating just beat me down to the point where I had to throw up the white flag. I lost a lot of money, but made a lot of money with Runhappy. Obviously, for the whole experience I lost money. But if Runhappy had turned out to be the next Storm Cat I would have gotten all my money back. I’ve got a lot of other things going on. I fought it as hard as I could and as long as I could. I got better things to do than fight an uphill battle all the time.”

From six crops of racing age, Runhappy has sired 241 winners and compiled progeny earnings in excess of $28 million.

His five graded stakes winners are led by Nutella Fella, who won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in 2023. He is also the sire of multiple Grade 2 winner Smile Happy, who finished eighth in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, and Grade 2 winner Following Sea, who finished second in the G1 Haskell Invitational Stakes in 2021, then ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint later that year.

Advertisement

During his own on-track career, Runhappy won seven of 10 starts and earned $1,496,250. He secured the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter of 2015 on the strength of a campaign that featured wins in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, the G1 King’s Bishop Stakes, and the G1 Malibu Stakes.

Read more at BloodHorse.

Read more at Thoroughbred Daily News.

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Sep 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.