Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S.

Foaled in 1950, by Lt. Col. E.C. Shirley at Ballykisteen, Happy Laughter, by Royal Charger out of Bray Melody by Coup de Lyon, was purchased as a yearling by the trainer Jack Jarvis for Hugh Hamilton Wills who had purchased the Hadrian Stud in Newmarket in 1947. At two, she won five times in seven starts, finished second and third. Her victories included the Stud Produce Stakes at Sandown, the Acorn Stakes at Epsom, and the Soltykoff Stakes at Newmarket. At three, having suffered a serious sinus infection, she surprisingly ran second in the Free Handicap at the Craven Meeting and then won the 1000 Guineas by two lengths, ridden by Emmanuel Mercer. After a disappointing finish in the Oaks, won by Lord Astor’s Ambiguity, also painted by Munnings, she went on to win the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, and the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood. Happy Laughter was voted best filly in the Free Handicap at both two and three.

This is a sketch for the painting of Happy Laughter depicted with the other starters before her 1,000 Guineas victory in 1953 (Munnings Art Museum, Dedham), (see E.J. Rousuck, “The Turf’s Recording Angel,” in The Thoroughbred Record, October 28, 1967, p. 1392). For large commissions, Munnings painted small sketches of his equine subjects. These quick, en plein air works, often on panel, show great spontaneity in Munnings’ brushwork and palette. Another sketch of Happy Laughter (facing in the opposite direction and without a saddle) is in the collection of the Munnings Art Museum.