So Happy, Meaning Doing Well After Santa Anita Derby Day Wins

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So Happy (Runhappy) was in fine fettle the morning after winning Saturday's GI Santa Anita Derby. Saturday's Santa Anita Derby program drew an on-track crowd of 37,562, the highest for Santa Anita Derby Day since 2018.“He ate good and looked great this morning,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “He seems to be in good spirits.”The Santa Anita Derby was So Happy's second time racing around two turns. Previously, in the GII San Felipe going 1 1/16, So Happy was up close to sharp pace and yielded late to finish third, 2 ¼ lengths back of winner Potente (Into Mischief), who finished second on Saturday.“I think that was the biggest part of it, having that two-turn race under his belt,” Glatt said. “I thought Mike [Smith] rode a great race. We were a little more patient with him than last time. Maybe he would have won the San Felipe if he got that same kind of trip. But dealing with Brant that day, combined with first time two turns and having not raced for a couple of months, it all probably caught up with him.”The Santa Anita Derby victory earned So Happy a berth in this year's Kentucky Derby. However, a trip to Churchill Downs is still to be determined.“That needs to be thought out a little more than I've had a chance to do at this point,” Glatt said.On the undercard, Meaning (Gun Runner) and Brooklyn Blonde (Gun Runner), the one-two finishers in the GII Santa Anita Oaks were “both doing well” Sunday morning, according to trainer Michael McCarthy.“No complaints,” he added.Meaning bested her stablemate in the Oaks by two lengths with Juan Hernandez aboard for the first time. Previously, Meaning won the one-mile Las Virgenes on Feb. 8. For Brooklyn Blonde, a $510,000 auction purchase by Gun Runner, the Oaks was her first time facing winners. Last month, when stretched out to a mile for her third start, Brooklyn Blonde broke her maiden by 1 ¼ lengths.“The two fillies had been training well here all winter,” McCarthy said. “Obviously Meaning's reputation has been out there in front of her. Brooklyn Blonde, we've been high on her since last summer. Yesterday she showed the kind of quality filly that she is.”Meaning will now be on to the Kentucky Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs. Brooklyn Blonde, who earned 50 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points, would need some defections to be part of the maximum 14-horse field.“It will be up to the racing gods how that plays out,” McCarthy said of Brooklyn Blonde. “But there are plenty of options for her. We'll get a work into both of them here first and then play things by ear.” The post So Happy, Meaning Doing Well After Santa Anita Derby Day Wins appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.