Mike Smith hugged Dena Glatt in the winner's circle after riding So Happy to victory in the San Vincente Stakes at Santa Anita Park in January, a joyous sign that the unheralded horse trained by her husband, Mark, might be better than expected.
“We were all excited about it,” Smith said. “And then tragedy struck.”
Dena Glatt died of heart failure just over a month later, at the age of 57. Mark now wears a bracelet with some of her ashes in it so “she’ll always be with me.”
So Happy is Mark Glatt's first Kentucky Derby horse in more than 30 years in the business, potentially the second-generation horseman's shining career achievement coming at a time of overwhelming grief.
“Some of it’s amazing. Some of it’s so sad,” Smith said Monday. “It’s just an emotional roller coaster, I can imagine, for Mark. He’s so happy on one hand, and then he’s so sad on the other because Dena’s not with him. But she is. I really feel like she is. I feel her presence, and I know how much she liked this horse.”
Nearly everything about this underdog journey makes So Happy a fan favorite, starting before he was even foaled. Decades ago, longtime breeder Leverett Miller bought his wife, Linda, a filly she named So Divine. He then took a suggestion that one of his mares, So Cunning, would be a good match with sire Runhappy.
“I said ‘OK, we’ll try it,’” recalled Miller, now 94.
The resulting colt was So Happy, initially sold for $12,000 and then $20,000 as a yearling sale as recently as October 2024. Even the $150,000 Glatt paid for him as a 2-year-old in training in March 2025 is a bargain for a thoroughbred of Triple Crown quality.
"The horse doesn’t know what you purchased him for, thank goodness," said Ana Maron, who co-owns the horse with husband Hans and Robert Norman's Norman Stables.
Combining the parents' names along with a joke about Glatt's stoic public disposition led to the moniker So Happy, which is what he has made everyone around him since his first race at Del Mar on Nov. 22. He finished first in a field of 10, leading Smith to wonder: “Who is this guy, man? Where is this coming from?”
Miller said the success was a shocker. Runhappy was a champion sprinter, but So Happy showed he could handle longer distances, which made the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby a realistic possibility. His only loss came March 7, on the five-year anniversary of Linda Miller dying of cancer at age 70.
So Happy is a four-legged piece of the Miller family's legacy.
“It’s hard to put into words, isn’t it?” Leverett said. “He’s so much a part of what we’ve been doing for so many years, me and my wife and my children."
The Miller house was unusually silent when So Happy ran down the stretch in the Santa Anita Derby on April 4, beating Bob Baffert-trained favorite Potente and erasing any doubt about being a Derby contender.
“He proved himself around two turns (and) improved tremendously,” Glatt said. “He was actually pulling away late in the race. You couldn’t say that distance was really a problem for him off of such a strong effort.”
Smith, who at 60 is aiming to become the oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, said he thought Dena Glatt was pushing them along that day. He also does not think anyone has seen the best yet from So Happy, who opened at 15-1 in the field of 20.
“He gets better with each and every race, it seems like, which is good,” Smith said. “He’s not flashy in the morning at all. He kind of just does what he has to do, but, man, when he gets there in the afternoon it’s like he knows the difference between practice and game time."
Hans Maron, who along with his wife started Saints or Sinners racing stable, is accustomed to watching a horse run, talking about it and moving on. So Happy has put he and Ana on a surreal path to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May that neither could have anticipated.
“This one’s a little different,” Hans said. “It’s been a daily discussion, worry. It’s just a little bit of a journey, but at the same time amazing. The horse has taken us here, we’re super excited and we’re just looking forward to get to the race healthy and sound and just hope he shows up for us.”
Asked what it would mean if So Happy wins the Kentucky Derby, Miller chuckled and pointed out one of the cruel realities of the sport.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “I certainly wish that a great deal. But I also realize that it’s very unlikely.”
Only one horse will get that honor, and Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade and Brad Cox's Commandment and Further Ado look like better bets. But So Happy has exceeded every expectation so far and, in turn, put Glatt's name on the map.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, winning the Derby was a dream. If it happens, he'd consider it the biggest thrill of his life behind only his children being born, and So Happy has made it possible.
“He's taken me to my first Kentucky Derby," Glatt said. “He’s been very successful to this point, so, yeah, he’s high on the priority list at the moment.”
The Marons have seen it all, from the time they first became friends to dinner parties and the emotional toll of this past winter, and they get choked up just talking about Dena. For the mom-and-pop-shop owners, this is not only a chance to honor her and celebrate Smith but to show horse racing is accessible.
“Everyone thinks this sport is only for the rich — it’s the sport of kings — but it kind of lets people know that you can also get in the game,” Ana Maron said. “A family can do it. It’s not just for the rich and wealthy. It’s for anybody.”
She doesn't believe in coincidences. She does believe everything happens for a reason.
So Happy encapsulates that, with Dena Glatt perhaps his guardian angel.
“I know that she’s so proud of Mark, and she’d want him to hold his head up and enjoy this: really enjoy it, go out there and see what it’s all about,” Smith said. “He’s finally got one that’s made it there, and I’m so happy for him. Mark, for him, it’s exciting but it’s also sad.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Kentucky Derby entrant So Happy works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 27, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kentucky Derby entrant So Happy works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 27, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kentucky Derby entrant So Happy works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 27, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Monday said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” as they seek a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.
Vance and U.S. officials claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, stays open and to address fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran, sets a 60-day period for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that Iran wants to use it for military purposes, a claim the country denies.
The vice president departed Switzerland as technical teams were still negotiating, and U.S. President Donald Trump talked up the efforts to keep the strait open to create “an oil gusher" as he stressed that the key to resolving the war was “respect” from Iran.
"As long as they respect us, I don’t want to use the word fear because that’s an inappropriate word, but as long as they respect us, we’re not going to have any trouble,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, causing fuel prices to skyrocket far beyond the region. The interim agreement to end the war was supposed to reopen the channel. Dozens of ships passed through it over the weekend, even though the main route is still mined and closed.
The lead negotiator of the Iranian delegation, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, insisted on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz will be managed by Iran, but following international laws.
“Hopefully we can activate the strait again, in terms of passage, and bring prosperity back to regional and global economy," Qalibaf told Iranian state media on the plane on his way back from Switzerland.
Qalibaf and the Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived on Monday night in Oman where they met with the country’s Foreign Minister Badr al Busaidi to discuss the peace efforts and ensure safety navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. Treasury issued a 60-day license on Monday waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement. Notably, the license allows Iranian oil to be imported into the U.S., which has not imported significant amounts of Iranian oil since the 1990s.
Tanker traffic continued to pick up through the Strait of Hormuz. According to data and analytics firm Kpler, there were 71 confirmed transits over the weekend, with a peak of 35 crossings on Saturday. Before the war, 100 to 130 vessels passed through the strait each day.
Ships have been avoiding the central route to steer clear of mines, choosing instead to use the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters. In the markets, Brent crude oil fell 3.2% to $77.52 per barrel, closer to its roughly $70 price from before the war. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 2.6% to $73.86 per barrel.
Trump did not attend what was dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” but his presence certainly loomed large. The talks were jolted by statements from Trump, who, from thousands of miles away, fired off comments that offended the Iranians. But the mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and stretched into early Monday.
“We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,” Vance told reporters.
The vice president suggested that the U.S. could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of U.S. soy, corn and wheat. He said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the lead U.S. negotiators, came up with the idea with officials from Qatar.
Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process, and Iranian money that would be accessible as sanctions were lifted would buy American products "for the benefit of the Iranian people.”
Iran, which has pressed for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, has not commented on the idea. The assets have been frozen over years of sanctions, banking restrictions and legal disputes imposed by the U.S. and international community.
Shortly after the Iran war began on Feb. 28, Hezbollah and Israel also went to war, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon. Iran has insisted that addressing the fighting in Lebanon is a critical component of any deal to end the wider conflict.
Iran noted “major progress” to end the fighting in Lebanon and called that the first real test of the negotiations.
Foreign Minister Araghchi wrote on X that mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War.” But he said the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeds in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal.
But as of Monday evening in the Middle East, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding.
“We have not detected trajectories from either side since yesterday,” said Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Airspace violations and Israeli military movements continued, Pokharel said.
Hezbollah has not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday.
The lull in fighting in Lebanon is the longest since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.
Kim and Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Abby Sewell in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok, Fatima Hussein and Will Weissert in Washington, Mae Anderson in New York, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this story.
A woman collects her kids toys and belongings from her destroyed house following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A man flashes the victory sign through the shattered window of a damaged apartment following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People check destroyed cars following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Vice President JD Vance walks after speaking to members of the media following high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
From left, US Vice-President JD Vance, Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif and Premier minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, at the Buergenstock resort resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
US Vice President JD Vance prior to a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/Keystone via AP)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, 3rd from right, and Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, 2nd from right, with the Delegation of Iran at the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
