Most Happy Fella (1967–1983) was a bay

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

Meadow Skipper Meadow Skipper (May 8, 1960 – 1982) was a Standardbred racehorse and sire. He earned $428,057 as a racehorse. Background Meadow Skipper was a brown horse foaled in 1960 by Dale Frost out of the U. S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame mare Cou ...

. He was voted Pacer of the Year in the United States in 1970 when he won the

Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of these horse races: #Cane Pace, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey #Messenger Stakes, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York # Little Brown Jug, held at t ...

Racing career

As a two-year-old in 1969, Most Happy Fella won several stakes races, including the American-National at Sportsman’s ParkLooking back to Most Happy Fella
, Retrieved 31 January 2016 As a three-year-old, Most Happy Fella won the

of the

Cane Pace The Cane Pace is a harness horse race for standardbred pacers run annually since 1955. The race was first run as the William H. Cane Futurity in 1955 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Mess ...

, Little Brown Jug and

Messenger Stakes The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York (on suburban Long Island) to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create ...

. He also won the

Adios Pace The Adios Pace is a horse race for three-year-old Standardbred colts and geldings run annually since 1967 at a distance of one mile at Meadows Racetrack in North Strabane Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Historical race events The 1972 ...

beating Columbia George in a race-off and the Shapiro Stakes at

Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois * Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and m ...

At his last race start he finished second behind Laverne Hanover in the American Classic against older pacers.

Stud record

At stud he sired

Cam Fella Cam Fella (May 14, 1979 – May 9, 2001) was a bay pacing horse by Most Happy Fella out of Nan Cam by Bret Hanover. He was trained and driven originally by Doug Arthur and later by Pat Crowe. His best time for the mile was 1:53.1. Cam Fella ...

the 1982 and 1983

Harness Horse of the Year The Harness Horse of the Year is an honor recognizing the top harness racing horse in the United States. The award is selected by the United States Trotting Association and the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), which issues the an ...

and many pacers now trace back to him in their pedigree through, in addition to Cam Fella, his son Oil Burner who sired No Nukes who in turn sired Western Hanover. Jate Lobell, Rocknroll Hanover, Western Ideal and The Panderosa are all sires tracing back to him through his sons. Most Happy Fella was also the sire of $1m earner Troublemaker and notable mares Silk Stockings and Tarport Hap. Most Happy Fella died in December 1983 aged 16 at Blue Chip Farm where he had stood for his whole stud career. His sons and daughters had earned $55 million at the time of his death which made him the all-time leading sire regardless of breed.Most Happy Fella is destroyed

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, 6 December 1983, Retrieved 31 January 2016

References

{{Reflist, 2 1967 racehorse births 1983 racehorse deaths American Standardbred racehorses Harness racing in the United States Little Brown Jug winners Cane Pace winners Messenger Stakes winners Triple Crown of Harness Racing winners United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees