Get Happy Mister captures San Simeon

Get Happy Mister made owner Annette Bishop very happy when slipping up the

rail to take Sunday's $100,500

San

Simeon S. (G3) at Santa Anita Park by one-length with jockey Tyler Baze in

the irons.

"Right now, there weren't a lot of choices," trainer Mark Tsagalakis

explained when asked about trying Get Happy Mister on the turf. "The horse was

doing super. It was time to let him rock and roll. It was fun. This is my first

stakes win.

"Too many to count, probably close to 25 years," he added when asked how many

years he's been training. "I've won some races, but never a stakes. The

race came up, he was ready to go, we were eligible for it, it was like 'Let's

give it a try.' We had him out on the turf the other day, he seemed to like it,

and he did.

"The plan is to go back home to Colorado and then come back here in the fall

and run here again. We'll play it by ear but that was the original plan and

we'll just enjoy it for now and think about that next week."

"I have a very good trainer. He calls the shots," smiled Bishop, who is

Tsagalakis' mother-in-law. "I bought (Get Happy Mister) at a two-year-old sale in Arapahoe. I've been

in the business about 14 or 15 years.

"He has a little history with his name, Get

Happy Mister. We were sitting at the auction and I was with my trainer, Butch

Gleason. He was getting nervous because everyone was bidding on him. I just

said, 'What? What's your problem? Do you want that horse?' He said 'Yes!' so I

said 'then get happy!' and that's how he was named.

"He's been a joy. I don't know his limits and after today, I have no idea.

I'm just amazed that he did as well as he did today. He's just been training out

of his skin. It's all due to Mark, he takes his time. He takes his pulse every

two hours."

Get Happy Mister and Baze first rushed up into contention when the gates opened, joining Pure

Tactics (Pure Prize) and Sweet Swap (Candy Ride) on the front end, but Baze

managed to wrestle his mount back into a tracking spot as those two

battled it out through splits of ::22, :43 4/5 and 1:07.

Holy Lute (Midnight Lute) ranged up to join Get Happy Mister on the outside

as the field passed over the dirt crossing, but then the pair separated upon

reaching the longtime leaders.

Holy Lute passed on the outside while Get Happy Mister took the inside route,

shimmying up the rail to be first under the wire and finish about 6 1/2 furlongs

on the downhill turf in 1:13. The bay gelding, who was making his turf debut in

this spot, was sent off the 12-1 second

longest shot in the seven-horse field and returned $27.20 for earning his first

graded victory.

"He was really nice

to ride, a really classy horse," Baze said. "I've never been on him but I watched all his

replays and rode him accordingly. It looks like he can do anything; he loves to

run.

"I let him run out of there and had a beautiful trip. When Pure Tactics and

Sweet Swap hooked up in front of me and opened up five I knew they were flying.

I just took my time. When the time was right he just...he's so big and

strong and he has a huge stride. Just a really classy horse."

Get Happy Mister, who moved his current win streak to six straight with the

San Simeon score, has done quite well for himself. He's racked up a 14-11-0-0

career mark that now includes nine stakes wins and has banked $384,928 in

lifetime earnings.

The five-year-old bay opened his career by romping in his four starts

at Arapahoe Park to be undefeated as a juvenile. He suffered his first loss when

shipping to Oaklawn Park to kick off his sophomore season, but rebounded to take

the Northern Spur S. before traveling to Prairie Meadows and finishing fourth

against allowance rivals in what would be his 2013 finale.

Get Happy Mister nearly went undefeated in 2014, just missing when fourth in

Santa Anita's Santana Mile in his season opener, but shipped back to Arapahoe

Park and began his current win streak in May.

Bred in Colorado by Willard Burbach, Get Happy Mister is the first registered

stakes winner out of the stakes-placed Sara Margaret (Elusive Quality) and

brought $46,000 at the Colorado August sale. Sara Margaret is a half-sister to a

number of stakes scorers, including Personal Beau (Personal Flag), Sabona's Beau

(Sabona) and Socko (Air Forbes Won). Farther back this female family also

includes champion Hurry to Market and Grade 1 heroine Delighter (Lypheor).

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