Happy Clapper (foaled 25 October 2010) is a retired multiple Group 1 winning

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n bred thoroughbred racehorse. He is also remembered for running second on 5 occasions behind champion race mare Winx.

Racing career

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 Canterbury Park Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located 11 km (7 mi) from the Sydney Central Business District, in King Street in the suburb of Canterbury, adjacent to Canterbur ...

when ridden by jockey Blake Shinn. As a 5 year old he won his first stakes race when successful in the

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in a ...

Villiers Stakes The Villiers Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under open handicap conditions, for horses aged three years old and upwards, over a distance of 1,600 metres held at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in ...

. 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”. Happy Clapper finally tasted success as a 7 year old in a Group 1 race when successful in the Epsom Handicap at

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney ra ...

. Trainer Pat Webster said after the race, “This is my greatest moment in racing”. Later that season he was successful in another two Group 1 races, the Doncaster Handicap and the

Canterbury Stakes The Canterbury Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and upwards at weight for age, over a distance of 1300 metres, held annually at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in March. His ...

. 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 Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

References

{{reflist 2010 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Australia Racehorses trained in Australia Thoroughbred family 15-a