Happy Knight (1943 – 19 September 1963) was a British

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse and sire, best known for winning the

classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

in 1946. After finishing unplaced on his only run a two-year-old in 1945, he was an emphatic winner of the 2000 Guineas on his first appearance of 1946. He ran poorly when strongly-fancied for The Derby and never recovered his Guineas form although he won two races as a five-year-old in 1948. He made no impact at stud.

Background

Happy Knight was a "big, strong, rather coarse" bay colt with a small white star bred in England by his owner William Cooke, a noted huntsman and

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grower who had established his Wyld Court Stud at Newbury, Berkshire in 1912. He was one of two classic winners sired by

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an outstanding two-year-old who went on to win the 2000 Guineas in 1934. Happy Knight's dam Happy Morn, had previously produced Happy Landing who finished third in the 1944

Derby Stakes The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey ...

. Happy Morn was a great-granddaughter of the influential broodmare Flitters, whose other female-line descendants have included Blenheim,

Footstepsinthesand Footstepsinthesand (foaled 15 February 2002) is a retired, undefeated Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was bred in the United Kingdom but trained during his racing career in Ireland. He won both his races as a two-year-old in 2004 and w ...

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, Westerner and

Golden Lilac Golden Lilac is an Irish-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. She won her first six races including the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and the Prix de Diane as a three-year-old in 2011. In May 2012, she defeated Cirrus des Aigles to win the ...

. The colt was sent into training with the Belgian Henri Albert Jelliss at his Beverley House stable in Newmarket, Suffolk. Jelliss had been a successful jockey, winning three classics including the 1935

Epsom Oaks The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards ...

Quashed Quashed (foaled 1932) was a British-bred and British-trained racehorse, winner of The Oaks in 1935. For many years, the Verdict family was not accepted into the British Stud Book because Quashed's dam was effectively a half-bred and it was ...

, before setting up as a trainer in 1937.

Racing career

Happy Knight showed little promise as a two-year-old, finishing unplaced on his only start at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horserac ...

but was highly regarded and considered a serious contender for the classics. The top-rated juvenile of the year was

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's Gulf Stream, the winner of the

Gimcrack Stakes The Gimcrack Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to ...

. The end of the

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meant that 1946 saw the first full season of flat racing in Britain since 1939. The winter of 1945/1946 was unusually severe and many of the leading three-year-olds were held up in their preparation for the major spring races. Happy Knight was still a

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when he contested the 138th running of the 2000 Guineas at

on his three-year-old debut. The race, run on 1 May, returned to its traditional Rowley Mile course after being run over the July course for the last six years. Ridden by

Tommy Weston Thomas Weston (2 August 1890 – 1952) was a footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa and Stoke. Career Weston was born in Halesowen and played for several amateur sides before joining Aston Villa in 1911. He soon estab ...

, he started a 28/1 outsider in a thirteen-runner field. He won by four

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and a head from Khaled and Radiotherapy. After the race, Happy Knight was reportedly cut from 50/1 to 3/1 favourite for The Derby. Cooke explained that he had not intended to run the horse at Epsom but had neglected to sign the form that would have cancelled his entry. Despite an interrupted preparation, Happy Knight was joint-favourite for the Derby with Gulf Stream on the eve of the race but finished unplaced behind

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. For the 1947 season, Happy Knight was moved to George Todd's stable at Manton in

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. He failed to win that year but hon twice over sprint distances as a five-year-old in 1948.

Assessment

In their book ''A Century of Champions'', based on a modified version of the Timeform system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated Happy Knight a "poor" winner of the 2000 Guineas.

Stud record

Happy Knight was retired to stud in 1949, but made very little impact as a breeding stallion. He was euthanized on 19 September 1963.

Pedigree

References

{{2000 Guineas Winners 1943 racehorse births 1963 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in the United Kingdom Racehorses trained in the United Kingdom Thoroughbred family 1-e 2000 Guineas winners