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thoroughbreddailynews
  • 3/21/2025
Transcript
00:00In his 52 career starts, graded stakes winner Happy Farm was claimed 12 times and moved
00:08through 16 different barns.
00:10However, that all changed last summer when Jocelyn Brooks, who knew him in his early
00:14days, brought him home to start his second career.
00:17We head out to visit Jocelyn and Happy Farm as they embark on this new chapter together.
00:23My name is Jocelyn Brooks and I currently work at Flying Dutchman Farm right here in
00:26Lexington.
00:28I got my start in the industry back in Maryland at Sagamore Farm.
00:32That's actually where I got all three of my current courses, which is crazy to say because
00:37all I ever dreamed of was having one.
00:40My three retired thoroughbreds are Perpetual Optimism and then I have Maryland Pride, who
00:46is a Sagamore Farm homebred gelding by Hard Spun.
00:50And then I have now my newest member is Happy Farm, who we purchased as a yearling at Sagamore
00:56and raised him as well.
00:58Happy Farm ran 52 times.
01:00He was in the money 34 times.
01:02He had 13 wins, 14 seconds, 7 thirds, and he made over $870,000.
01:08And actually he went to Ocala Stud to be broken and him and Maryland Pride are the same crop.
01:14So I actually have a photo of them together training at Ocala Stud.
01:17His first start at Laurel, he ran third and was like really trying and really coming and
01:22everybody was so excited.
01:24And then we ran him back and he won.
01:26You can't imagine.
01:27It was a maiden 40, I think.
01:29We acted like we just won a race on Freakness Day.
01:32It was incredible.
01:34We ran him for a price at Saratoga.
01:36It was $32,000.
01:37And it was clear he was a talented horse, but that was just the level that he was going
01:41to be at.
01:42He got claimed and I was so upset and I started crying and I was so embarrassed because like
01:47who wants to cry on the phone with their boss about a horse?
01:50And then he got claimed again and again.
01:52As it goes, I just would watch him and see where he went.
01:55And he was in Jason Service's barn.
01:57We actually ran against him in the fall highway.
02:00So we had shipped Recruiting Ready, who was arguably one of the most talented horses we
02:04had at Sagamore Sprinter.
02:06And then of course, as it goes, Happy Farm beats Recruiting Ready.
02:11It was an interesting moment to say the least.
02:14And then fast forward, we find out that Happy Farm and a lot of the other horses in that
02:18barn were part of this FBI investigation.
02:20And then I believe Linda Rice, who had previously had him, got him back.
02:24She said he was the same old guy.
02:26And that made me really happy that no matter what was going on, he was the same old Happy.
02:32And then a few more years go by and he turns 10 and he can no longer run in New York.
02:36So he was running at Parks and then he was running at Monmouth and he wasn't running
02:40bad, but he just wasn't running at the level that he had been before.
02:44And so I had reached out to Steve at the players group and just said, hey, if you get to that
02:48point where you're not sure that he wants to do it anymore or that he comes up with
02:51an injury, I would love for you to just keep me in mind.
02:55After he ran a couple more times and ran one time not great, I got a text from Steve that
03:00said call me tomorrow.
03:02I was like, no way.
03:04Financially, it's hard to have any horse, especially one right off the track, that's
03:08going to need a lot of time off.
03:10And I just figured I would find a way.
03:11I had said since he was claimed away, I would find a way to make it work.
03:15And so we're making it work.
03:18I kind of just continued letting him chill, get used to life here, started working with
03:22him on the robe.
03:23And then I knew I'd like to do the Thoroughbred makeover with him in 2025.
03:27So he was limited to a certain amount of rides.
03:29So all I really did, I got on a couple of times and went on some hacks around the farm.
03:33He acted like he'd done it a hundred times.
03:36I think the reason most of us are in the industry is because we love horses.
03:39I mean, that's the first reason that you get involved.
03:42So when you have a horse that people have all, he's been a part of people's lives for
03:4510 plus years.
03:47It's just magical to be able to share him with everybody.
03:50I still can't believe that he is mine and that I see him every day.
03:54All those years of worrying about him and just wondering, making sure he'd be okay.
03:59I'm just, I cannot believe he's here with us.
04:02It's just incredible.
04:03I feel very lucky.