Norman Stables

When So Happy (c, 3, Runhappy--So Cunning, by Blame) won his first two starts--both sprints--impressively, then yielded when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 7, it could be assumed he had distance limitations. After all, his sire was the 2015 champion sprinter and So Happy had kicked off his own career with a 6 1/2-furlong maiden win Nov. 22 and a GII San Vicente Stakes win at seven furlongs Jan 10 . So Happy ignored both the PPs and his sire's aptitude Saturday,...

Jockey Vicente Del Cid won his third overall riding title and his first since the 2023-24 season at the 76-day Delta Downs meeting which concluded Saturday. Allen Landry captured his second consecutive leading trainer title at the Louisiana oval and Endzone Athletics (Karl Broberg and Matt Johanson) won its 14th leading owner crown. Del Cid won 129 races from 449 mounts, which was 76 wins ahead of second-place rider Joel Dominguez. The Guatemalan native also set a new single-season record with total mount earnings of $3,109,245. He is the first...

Norman Stables LLC and Saints or Sinners' So Happy (Runhappy) exited his win in the seven-furlong GII San Vicente Stakes Saturday in fine shape, according to trainer Mark Glatt, who said the colt is likely to make his next start in the 1 1/16-mile GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 7. "I'm sure he'll run in one of these preps coming up here and we'll see if he can go two turns," Glatt said. "My first inclination would be to run in the San Felipe, but things change." So Happy, who...

Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), last year's Eclipse champion juvenile, completed his major preparations for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby with a bullet five-furlong work in :58.40 (1/15) Monday at Churchill Downs. Churchill Downs clockers caught Citizen Bull in fractions of :11.60, :23, :45.80, :58.40 and out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and seven-eighths in 1:27.20. "He worked really good out there," said jockey Martin Garcia, who was aboard for the work. "But he was just messin' around. He did it easy." Garcia also revealed that trainer Bob Baffert, who has radio contact...

Lonnie Briley's first starter at Churchill Downs came three years ago in the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes on the Thursday of Derby week. Although his trainee Cool Spirit (Mor Spirit) broke a step slow and finished last, the experience left Briley with lasting memories of Louisville. "I tell you, when the horses took off running, it was like there was an airplane taking off," Briley recalled with a soft-spoken Cajun drawl. "It was like a big roar, like the bleachers could come off the ground. It was the first time I've...

Norman Stables' Secret Faith (Aurelius Maximus) continued her demolition of the Louisiana-bred stakes ranks with a front-running 7 1/4-length victory in the fillies' division of the Louisiana Futurity at Fair Grounds Sunday. The 2-year-old filly has now won six of her seven starts to date, with five stakes wins at four different tracks. She has a combined winning margin of 40 1/2 lengths, led off by a 14-length score in the D.S. Shine Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs in August. Jayde Gelner purchased Secret Faith on behalf of owner Robbie...

Elio Barrera captured the first riding title of his young career and Juan Larrosa fended off a number of challengers in a tightly contested trainer's race at the Evangeline Downs Thoroughbred meet which concluded Saturday. Michele Rodriguez's Elite Thoroughbred Racing repeated as the meet's leading owner. Barrera, a 22-year-old from Guatemala in his second full season of riding, finished the season with 80 wins from 420 mounts at the meet which opened Apr. 5. He was one of five riders to eclipse the million-dollar mark in purse earnings, topping the...