Racehorse owner Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale isn’t one to sit idly by while the world turns — or freezes.
A marketing tornado, McIngvale is responsible for a series of lapel-grabbing advertising stunts to turn eyes towards his Claiborne-based stallion, Runhappy. The Runhappy Travers. The Runhappy Metropolitan. The Runhappy Hopeful. The $100,000 bonus to the owners of any Runhappy offspring who last year won a maiden special weight at Del Mar, Saratoga or Kentucky Downs (a pot of gold that went unclaimed). Television placements galore.
He’s just as prolific in his denouncement of cheats, arguing when asked that illegal drug use in the sport has done “irreparable damage to the image of horseracing”. Putting deed before word, McIngvale’s Runhappy performed Lasix-free during an Eclipse Award-garnering career that encompassed three G1s, including a Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
The mattress in McIngvale’s moniker reports to his thriving furniture business, Gallery Furniture, and a glittering history of TV ads in which the prolific philanthropist — and keen runner — donned this particular bedroom apparatus, head, arms and legs sprouted from the sides like a beetle.
Most recently, he threw open the doors of his Texan furniture stores as a warm respite for hundreds frozen out of their homes during the deadly winter snap.
Who do you think is the most important figure in racing history?
Queen Elizabeth.
Huge fan, huge investment in the game, huge figure who has nurtured the game. The pomp and ceremony. She loves the game and has supported it her whole life at the highest level. I could never approach her level, but just the love and passion that she has for the game, I’d certainly love to model [my approach to] that. She’s a tremendous asset to the sport, not only in the English-speaking world but all over.
Which is your favorite venue and race?
My favorite venue has to be Santa Anita. I’ve always wanted to win the Malibu Stakes, and I did with Runhappy. That’s my favorite venue and my favorite race.
I always liked the way that it arrives the day after Christmas, right in the middle of the holidays. Great storied venue obviously at Santa Anita. So, all that put together makes for a great race that I always wanted to win.
Hopefully I’ll [win it again] in a couple years with one of these Runhappys!
What is your fondest memory in racing?
Probably Runhappy winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland in 2015 (see video below). I remember how much he was behind headed into the stretch, didn’t look promising, and then he came on and ran them all down. I was there with my whole family, whole group, so that made it all the more special.
Keeneland’s like our home track — our horses are stabled in Kentucky, trained there in Lexington. And so, all of those factors made it very special. Running drug free, too.
Strangely enough, the horse we beat in that stretch duel [Private Zone] was trained by Jorge Navarro. Enough said.
Note: Navarro was one of several individuals indicted last year on federal charges in connection with the use of performance enhancing drugs.
What do you see as the biggest challenge racing faces today?
Attracting young people.
You’ve got to make it easier to play the game. You’ve got to make it more relevant to the 18-35-year-old crowd. You’ve got to make it easier for them to follow the game. It’s got to be more like Barstool Sports, got to be like Bleacher Report. Fun and online for these kids.
I think the pandemic forced the racetracks to be better at marketing remotely through online platforms. So, I think a lot of progress has been made, necessity being the motive. Racing has done a very good job at keeping the handle up during the pandemic and continues to as the pandemic goes on. But obviously, there’s a long way to go.
It’s a matter of young people wanting fast action, fast results, and nothing’s faster action and faster results than horseracing. We’ve just got to come up with ways to increase the size of the fields and make it to where you can actually make money on betting on horseracing every day.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
Absolutely zero drug tolerance for everybody. If the horse tests positive, the trainer’s out, the owner’s out. Zero tolerance.
I was in Dubai a couple years ago giving a speech for some big company. I got jet-lagged, so I got up at 2:30 in the morning. Was staying in some fancy hotel. Went down and asked the reception guy: Was it safe for me to go run around Dubai in the middle of the night, two or three in the morning?
He said, ‘you can run anywhere you want in this town, nobody will ever bother you.’ Well, obviously they have harsh penalties, and racing needs the same thing.
[The new federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act], it’s very good, just has to be enforced. People need to run these horses on hay, oats and water, just like we ran Runhappy. It makes the horses happier. It makes the betting more transparent. And the fans don’t think they’re an outsider looking in.
Threats of fraud are real, whether the fraud is real or not, just like this last presidential election. Half the population doesn’t believe in the results. So, horseracing can’t be in that same boat. Cannot go there. It’s no fun when you’ve got no shot from the get-go.