He may be a veteran, but Happy Clapper proved himself perhaps the best credentialed seven-year-old anywhere in the world by storming to his third G1 win in the $3 million Doncaster Handicap at Randwick on Saturday, 7 March.
As well as confirming his status as a horse of genuine class, Happy Clapper became by far his sire Teofilo’s greatest Stakes winner, his third G1 win taking his racetrack earnings beyond A$5 million.
The win also places him alongside Teofilo’s G1 Irish Derby victor Trading Leather, the best of their sire’s 14 G1 winners.
Happy Clapper has now won Sydney’s two best mile races, having taken out the G1 Epsom Handicap last Spring with his latest victory coming after second placings in the Doncaster in 2016 and ’17.
The first of those was behind world champion mare Winx who he chased home seven times, finishing second to her on three occasions.
Happy Clapper raced on the pace from the start, taking command at the 200m and holding on strongly to run the 1600m in the fastest time recorded in the Doncaster’s 152-year history and ran just milliseconds from breaking the track record of 1:33:13.
Happy Clapper is Teofilo’s fifth Australian G1 winner, along with Humidor, Sonntag, Palentino and Kermadec, who is now a Darley stallion and himself won G1 feature race in 2015.
Bred by his owner Michael Thomas, Happy Clappper is out of the Encosta de Lago mare Busking and is a half-brother to the G2 winner Not A Single Cent. Busling is a winning half-sister to the G3 winner Thankgodyou’rehere.
Teofilo will stand the coming southern hemisphere breeding season at Kelvinside, NSW, at a service fee of A$44,000 including GST.
For the full Darley roster and fees, click here.
