Still in grief, Glatt might have So Happy in Kentucky Derby

Going through the toughest time of his life, Mark Glatt stands on the threshold of having his first Kentucky Derby horse. His first for any Triple Crown race.

“I think that that’s fairly accurate, yes,” he said Wednesday.

So Happy. That is the name of the colt who won his first two races and then finished third in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes last month. If he finishes in the top two of Saturday’s $500,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1), he would qualify to race May 2 in Kentucky Derby 2026.

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“If he happened to win this weekend,” Glatt said, “obviously it would be a bit bittersweet.”

So Happy. The name is not an easy fit right now for Glatt. The native of Spokane, Wash., who got his trainer’s license in 1994 has his wife on his mind. He and Dena were married for 25 years.

“She didn’t work on the track, but she was very involved,” Glatt, 53, said in a phone interview from Santa Anita with Horse Racing Nation. “Not only were we husband and wife, she rarely missed a race day that I had horses running, at least. It wasn’t like we weren’t together all the time, because we were. That makes it even more difficult. It’s not like when other people are going through something like this, when they go to their job or profession. Maybe they can get away from it momentarily because there isn’t that constant reminder of having lost your wife. But in my particular case, that really isn’t so.”

Dena died of heart failure Feb. 12 after two weeks in a Southern California hospital. She was 57.

“It’s without question the hardest thing I’ve ever had happen to me in my life,” Glatt said. “It’s even pretty hard still to put into words. You can’t. You just can’t describe the loss.”

So Happy. That is what the Glatts would have been together to see the son of Runhappy out of Blame mare So Cunning line up against six other 3-year-olds Saturday for a chance to get to America’s biggest race. Glatt bought the colt for Robbie Norman, he of Coal Battle fame in last year’s Kentucky Derby, as well as Hans and Ana Maron, a married couple who sold a minority share of the Fairlife dairy company to Coca-Cola. The winning bid on behalf of Norman Stables and Saints or Sinners for hip 546 was $150,000 nearly 13 months ago at the Ocala Breeders’ Sale auction of 2-year-olds in training.

“We were pretty high on the horse really from day 1,” Glatt said. “He was a little bit absent-minded early. He didn’t necessarily tell himself for certain in any of his workouts prior to his debut, but he always acted with a certain amount of quality. He never would really let himself get outworked, but on the other hand, he never did anything to razzle or dazzle you.”

So Happy. If he was prone to being flaky in the morning, would he live up to his name in the afternoon? Carrying 38-1 odds in his 6 1/2-furlong debut Nov. 22 at Del Mar, he carried jockey Mike Smith through a stalking fourth up the backstretch before he rallied to win by three-quarters of a length.

“He certainly put things together and was just such a pro in his debut,” Glatt said. “It told you that he was a horse that might goof around a little bit in the morning, but when it came to crunch time, he could put it all together.”

So Happy. His eyes wander with his mind. That is why he still wears blinkers for morning training, even though he does not wear them in his races. That worked out very well in the next assignment Jan. 10 at Santa Anita. After a bumpy start, Smith had the maiden winner in mid-pack for the seven-furlong San Vicente (G2) before making up three lengths on 1-2 favorite Buetane and racing to a two-length triumph.

“He was just so excited out there. He was So Happy,” Smith said after the race. “I was really happy with the way he handled the seven-eighths, because usually that’s a pretty good indication they will go two turns. ... Who knows? We will see where he takes us.”

Next came the San Felipe (G2), a 1 1/16-mile points prep March 7 that would be his first test racing around two turns. So Happy dueled 4-5 favorite Brant through early fractions of 22.88, 46.62 and 1:10.42 before they both capitulated. Potente at 8-1 and Robusta at 67-1 finished one-two, and So Happy settled for third.

“There’s two things that are the hardest things particularly for a young horse to overcome. One is first time against winners, and the second one is two turns,” Glatt said. “If Mike and I had been able to redo this first time around two turns, perhaps we wouldn’t have tackled Brant that day early on as much as he did.”

Come Saturday, five-time Santa Anita Derby winner Smith will be paired again with So Happy, Potente will be back for nine-time-winning trainer Bob Baffert, and so will Robusta for two-time victor Doug O’Neill. Baffert also has Cherokee Nation making his first start after a 10-length, maiden-breaking triumph Feb. 27. That two-turn mile was worth a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form. So Happy got a 96 for his San Vicente win. Those are the top two Beyers for 3-year-olds during the current Santa Anita season.

“Certainly it’s competitive,” said Glatt, who is looking for his first win in the Santa Anita Derby to go along with two meet titles in a quarter-century of training in Southern California. “You’ve got the first two finishers that beat (So Happy) last time back in there amongst others. You have a big win from a maiden winner last time. But certainly I don’t know if I would trade places with anybody.”

So Happy. So many reasons for Glatt to accentuate the positive as even as bettors take a long, hard look at that first route result four weeks ago and weigh it against this first time for the whole field to stretch to 1 1/8 miles.

“I’m confident in this horse and really just looking forward to seeing start no. 2 around two turns,” Glatt said. “I think this is going to tell us which direction he’s headed and we’re headed. Not to give him an excuse, but I think there was enough circumstances last time to give him the benefit of the doubt and give him another chance. That’s just exactly what we’re doing here Saturday, and now we’ll see.”

So Happy. It will take less than a couple minutes for two and maybe even three teams of connections to feel that way when they redeem qualifying points from the Santa Anita Derby for invitations to run for the roses May 2 at Churchill Downs.

For Glatt and his three adult children, the feeling will be ambivalent at best.

“I’m really a one-race-at-a-time guy,” Glatt said. “Whether it’s a race like this or the opportunity that may present itself in this situation or just an everyday, ordinary kind of a claiming race. I think it’s dangerous to look too far ahead with these horses.”

At a time when a horse race seems inconsequential by comparison to the passing of a wife and mom, it is one minute at a time for Glatt.

“I think we see what happens on Saturday,” he said, “and we’ll take it from there.”