James McIngvale's Runhappy hit the road Sept. 15, shipping from his base at the Thoroughbred Training Center toChurchill Downs, where he worked six furlongs from the gate in 1:14 1/5 under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado.

The champion male sprinter of 2015 is prepping for a start in the Oct. 1 Ack Ack Handicap (gr. III) at the Louisville track.

"He went well and Edgar was happy, which is the main thing," said trainer Laura Wohlers. "The gate was placed on the outside fence, so he kind of darted to the inside at the start. I think he did the first quarter in :26, but he picked it up and was nice and steady."

Churchill clockers caught Runhappy in fractions of :26, :37 4/5, :48 2/5, and 1:01 4/5. Plans for him to gallop out a mile didn’t come to fruition, as the outrider went out and grabbed the horse and rider after seven eighths and slowed them down.

"Other than that, everything went according to plan," Wohlers said. "The key is that he cooled out well. Edgar said he wasn't even breathing hard."

"He went well," Prado said. "There was a big gap between the gate and the rail. The main thing was to get him to finish strong. He's going a mile for the first time and we know that he's fast and we want to use what's there. We were trying to get him to relax and slowly pick them up." 

It was the fourth work in as many weeks for Runhappy, a 4-year-old son of Super Saver  , who has not started since winning Santa Anita Park's Malibu Stakes (gr. I) last December. He could work once more atKeeneland before the Ack Ack, which is being used as a springboard to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) at Santa Anita Nov. 4. Wohlers wanted to have her star work at least once over the Churchill surface before the race to see how he liked it. 

"He handled it just fine," she said, but noted the track plays differently in the morning than it does in the afternoons.