Mark Glatt honors late wife in first Kentucky Derby run with So Happy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — So Happy is not a horse that will wow you with his training.

"He's the type of horse that just goes through the motions in the morning," trainer Mark Glatt said.

"He's just not much of a flashy workhorse," jockey Mike Smith said. "And he runs his best races that way. The only time he ever worked good, he got beat."

"He's got an off-and-on switch from the morning to the afternoon, and he turns it on in the afternoon," Glatt said.

The son of champion sprinter Runhappy flipped the switch by outrunning Potente to capture the Santa Anita Derby in early April, his third win in four career starts.

For Glatt, the son of a trainer in the Pacific Northwest, having a horse in this race someday was once a distant aspiration.

"You dream of getting to the Derby and you dream of winning the Derby, and you know at that young age it's just a dream," Glatt said. "But things progressed and my career kind of took off, and now here we are, and it would, other than my kids being born, maybe be the biggest thrill of my lifetime."

But this first Derby trip is a bittersweet one. Glatt's wife of 25 years and mother to his three children, Dena, died of heart failure in February.

Glatt believes she is still helping.

"I absolutely believe she's above and pushing us through this and hopefully enjoying the ride right along with us," Glatt said. "She'd be very happy for me and happy for all the connections, and I think she'd be very proud of an accomplishment like this.

"So, we're still together, even if it's just in spirit."