After finishing a respectable ninth last weekend in the GI Kentucky Derby, So Happy (Runhappy) has returned to his homebase in California as his connections decide what races are in his future after definitively ruling out the GI Preakness Stakes.
The GI Santa Anita Derby hero was out on track Friday morning for a light jog. Trainer Mark Glatt reported that the Preakness had been ruled out for his first Kentucky Derby starter, but did not go as far as to rule out a start in the GI Belmont Stakes June 6 at Saratoga.
“We're going to evaluate things here a little bit, then we'll make plans about what to do moving forward,” Glatt said.
Owners Ana and Hans Maron of Saints or Sinners Racing also announced the decision to skip the Preakness on their X account, saying “After much discussion between ourselves and trainer Mark Glatt, So Happy will not be participating in the Preakness Stakes…The grueling mile-and-a-quarter distance we ask of these horses on Kentucky Derby day is truly a lot, and as owners, our philosophy has always remained the same: horse first.”
“So Happy came back healthy after his long flight home [to Santa Anita Park], and our focus now is keeping him healthy, happy, and strong for the future. We do not believe in pushing our horses simply for the sake of making a race.”
Their full statement can be read here.
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