Happy Strike Takes Trainer/Owner Loy to Claiming Crown

Although a multiple stakes-winning trainer, Dewaine Loy knew that as he hitched up his trailer at Oaklawn Park and loaded Happy Strike aboard, that he was about to embark on a 9 1/2-hour journey toward his biggest race yet: the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Churchill Downs Nov. 15. "I've won stakes, but I think to me (the Claiming Crown) is the biggest one," Loy said about where the race ranks among those he's competed in. "This is the Kentucky Derby of claiming horses. I probably won't ever have a Derby horse. Who knows, I might. But this is my Derby. Mine and his." Loy drove the 4-year-old son of Runhappy himself to the engagement. His wife, Taylor, joined him for the journey and the couple have been seen at the Churchill Downs barn of trainer Ron Moquett attending to the horse's every need. A bit uncommon for an event that celebrates claiming horses, Happy Strike enters the Claiming Crown having never left Loy's barn since he was purchased for just $6,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Daren Ives. The horse was exactly what Loy and his clients tend to look for: a well-bred horse and a little crooked-legged. Described as pigeon-toed by Loy and out of the winning Smart Strike mare Hone In, Happy Strike offered a low price without his ability being impacted. "He would have brought a lot more money than he did," Loy said. "They sell for a lot cheaper because the bigger guys want something that's 100% correct, and they may not hold up as long as this horse." Racing between Loy's two bases, Oaklawn and Prairie Meadows, Happy Strike had an average start to his career in Ives' colors. In the spring, life events led to Ives deciding he needed to take a break from the industry and he prepared to sell his horses. Loy didn't really want any more horses at the time, but decided to go ahead and purchase Happy Strike and two others. Ironically, that was when Happy Strike turned the corner, winning all four starts at Prairie Meadows with Loy listed as owner and trainer. Loy had initially entered Happy Strike in a $25,000 claimer with the goal of him getting claimed. Now, he's thankful that he remained in the barn. Following that claiming race, he has raced without a tag and defeated open allowance company, proving to be among the best of the best on the Prairie Meadows backstretch. "Win, lose, or draw, he was running against some of the best horses in Iowa," Loy said of the competition. "Any time you run in an open allowance race, you're running against the best horses on the backside." Now the question will be if Happy Strike can take that talent on the road to Churchill Downs and face horses traveling from all over. A 20-1 longshot for the 1 1/8-mile Jewel, Loy believes he hasn't yet seen the gelding's best. "He's kind of like a 12-year-old kid in high school going through maturity," Loy said. "He's finally coming into himself. I've really come to love him. He's a problem child, just a little bit, but he's my problem child."