Norman Stables and Saints or Sinners’ So Happy (Runhappy-So Cunning, by Blame) made a successful leap into graded company when he prevailed in the Gr. II, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park, leading the slate of stakes-winning OBS graduates for the week.

    Bred by Leverett Miller and trained by Mark Glatt, So Happy’s victory kicked off a banner weekend that saw OBS graduates sweep all three graded stakes scheduled. The son of Runhappy surged to the lead inside the final furlong and held off a late charge from 1-2 favorite and fellow OBS grad Buetane to score by two lengths.

    “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,” winning jockey Mike Smith said. “He was well within himself running underneath the wire. I was really happy with the way he did things.”

    So Happy was purchased by Glatt, agent for $150,000 at the 2025 OBS March Sale out of the First Call consignment after breezing in :10 flat.

    So Happy’s triumph set the stage for an outstanding couple of days for Glatt and Saints or Sinners. The following day’s Santa Anita card saw the connections enjoy more success with another OBS grad when Margarita Girl (Twirling Candy-My Day, by Uncle Mo) was victorious in the Gr. III, $100,000 Las Flores Stakes to notch her first career graded win.

    A 4-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy, Margarita Girl joined Glatt’s barn as a juvenile with high expectations after being purchased by Saints or Sinners for $575,000 at the 2024 OBS March Sale from the Wavertree Stables consignment after breezing in :9 4/5.

The Jan. 11 card at Santa Anita also saw Queen Maxima (Bucchero – Corfu Lady, by Corfu) earn her fifth stakes and third at the graded level when prevailing in the Gr. III, $100,000 Las Cienegas Stakes for older fillies and mares on the hillside turf course.

    A 5-year-old daughter of fellow OBS grad Bucchero, Queen Maxima is owned by Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures and trained by Jeff Mullins. Consigned by Blue River Bloodstock, she was purchased by Michael Pender, agent, for $40,000 from the 2023 OBS June sale after breezing in :20 3/5.

    At Fair Grounds, Blue Fire (Aurelius Maximus – Mystic Blue, by Maimonides) proved too much in the $100,000 Bob F. Wright Memorial Stakes, winning by 2 1/4 lengths. Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel and trained by Steve Asmussen, Blue Fire was purchased for $32,000 by Fast Horses out of the 2023 OBS Winter Mixed Sale from the Kaizen Sales consignment.

    OLDSMAR - Drexel Hill, who finished a determined second to Good Cheer in last year’s Longines Kentucky Oaks, heads a six-horse field for Saturday’s $125,000 Wayward Lass Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward at Tampa Bay Downs.

    The 42nd edition of the Wayward Lass, to be contested at a distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth, is one of two stakes on Saturday’s 10-race Skyway Festival Day card, with the other the 42nd running of the $125,000, 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Both races will be run on the main track.

    Post time for the first race Saturday is 12:30 p.m.

    The $125,000 Pasco Stakes for 3-year-old males drew an insufficient number of entries to be run Saturday as originally scheduled and has been “brought back” as an extra race on the overnight sheet by the track’s racing office in an effort to attract enough horses to run it on Sunday or another future date.

    Drexel Hill, who has earned more than $500,000 in her nine-race career, is owned by Legion Racing and trained by D. Whitworth Beckman. She will be ridden by Ben Curtis. Drexel Hill followed her Kentucky Oaks performance by finishing second in the Gr. II Mother Goose Stakes at Aqueduct.

    Trainer Saffie A. Joseph has entered three fillies in the Wayward Lass, the most accomplished being 4-year-old Andrea, a multiple stakes-winner who finished third last summer in the Gr. II Charles Town Oaks.

    Another Joseph entry, 4-year-old Early On, finished second by a nose in the Gr. III Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct, earning her a trip to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Oaks, in which she finished eighth.

    Bettors will also take a close look at trainer Michelle Hemingway’s 5-year-old mare Runaway Diva, who was the runner-up on Sept. 28 in the Gr. III Delaware Handicap.
The Wayward Lass is the seventh race on Saturday’s card.

    Meanwhile, six promising 3-year-old fillies are well-prepared to begin building on their 2025 foundations Saturday in the 42nd edition of the $125,000, 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes. The Gasparilla is the sixth race.

    Topping the Gasparilla field are a pair of Florida-bred stakes-winners in Tessellate and Gerrards Cross. Tessellate, who is trained by for a partnership, won the Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes by 13 lengths on Nov. 15 at Gulfstream Park. Tessellate will be ridden by Edgard Zayas.
Gerrards Cross, bred and owned by James Chicklo and trained by Kathleen O’Connell, won the Colleen Stakes on the turf on July 27 at Monmouth Park. Sonny Leon has been named to ride.