It will be a sad day when the curtain comes down on the career of Happy Clapper because the biggest cheer of the day at Randwick was reserved for the 9-year-old son of Teofilo (IRE) following his fighting performance in the Group III Yulong Australia Craven Plate (2000m).
After looking likely to be caught wide the trip, Tommy Berry made the decision to take the hulking gelding to the front. He needed to call on all his renowned courage of the last 200 metres to hold off the hard-charging Tally (Street Cry) by a short-neck with a length back to Life Less Ordinary (Thewayyouare) in third.
The race was turned on its head when the expected leader Samadoubt failed to show his usual early speed.
"I said to (Samadioubt’s trainer) Bjorn Baker, 'don't worry about the speed, we'll be making it' but I was only joking," Webster told AAP.
"I didn't think when he took off like that, he could keep going.
"You go back to the Roy Higgins and George Moore days when your weight-for-age races were always about tactics.
"Today this is weight-for-age and Tommy Berry did everything I didn't expect him to do."
"He's an amazing horse, the Epsom, the Doncaster and now this. What can I say?"
The triple Group 1 winner advances his record to 12 wins, 12 seconds and 5 thirds from 44 starts with earnings of $7,241,100.
A homebred for Michael Thomas, Happy Clapper is the fifth foal of the Encosta de Lago mare Busking, who was purchased for $13,000 by Thomas from the Darley Stud draft at the 2010 Inglis Melbourne March Thoroughbred Sale.
Busking won just one of her 16 starts but she was a half-sister to Pat Webster's dual Group III winner and Group 1 Galaxy Stakes runner-up Thankgodyou'rehere (Secret Savings).
At the time of her sale, Busking was carrying Happy Clapper.
A half-brother to the Group II VRC Sires' Produce Stakes winner Not A Single Cent (Not A Single Doubt), Happy Clapper is one of six winners from seven to race out of Busking, who is also the dam of the multiple stakes-placed Commands mare Gig who was sold at the 2015 Magic Millions National Broodmare sale for $300,000.
Sadly, Busking died in January 2017. Her final foal is a 3yo colt by Not A Single Doubt named One Man Band who has failed to place in his first two starts.
