Horsename: | Happy Clapper |
Sire: | Teofilo |
Dam: | Busking |
Damsire: | Encosta De Lago |
Sex: | Gelding |
Foaled: | 25 October 2010 |
Country: | Australia |
Colour: | Bay |
Breeder: | Michael Thomas |
Owner: | Michael Thomas |
Trainer: | Patrick Webster |
Record: | 48: 12–12–6 |
Earnings: | A$ 7,307,800[1] |
Race: | Villiers Stakes (2015) Newcastle Newmarket (2017) Tramway Stakes (2017) Epsom Handicap (2017) Canterbury Stakes (2018) Doncaster Handicap (2018) Craven Plate (2019) |
Happy Clapper (foaled 25 October 2010) is a retired multiple Group 1 winning Australian bred thoroughbred racehorse.
He is also remembered for running second on 5 occasions behind champion race mare Winx.[2]
Happy Clapper raced as a 2 year old and 3 year old without success. The horse won his first race as a 4 year old at Sydney’s Canterbury Park Racecourse when ridden by jockey Blake Shinn.
As a 5 year old he won his first stakes race when successful in the Group 2 Villiers Stakes. After the race trainer, Pat Webster stated “I've had some good horses, but I’d have to say this is the best horse I’ve had”.[3]
Happy Clapper finally tasted success as a 7 year old in a Group 1 race when successful in the Epsom Handicap at Randwick Racecourse. Trainer Pat Webster said after the race, “This is my greatest moment in racing”.[4]
Later that season he was successful in another two Group 1 races, the Doncaster Handicap and the Canterbury Stakes.
After finishing seventh in the 2020 Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Happy Clapper was retired from racing and sent to ex-jockey Mal Fitzgerald who operates a facility for Racing NSW, retraining retired racehorses at Oxley Island near Taree.[5]