In November, So Happy entered the starting gate as a 38-1 longshot with little expectations on him. Two months later, he has shown himself to the racing world as one of the exciting young talents in the game.
After pulling the upset in that debut, the son of Runhappy showed professionalism and conviction with a powerful performance in the San Vicente Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park Jan. 10, beating the Bob Baffert-trained, odds-on favorite Buetane by 2 lengths.
Video: San Vicente S. (G2)
"I thought it was pretty darn impressive," said the colt's breeder, Leverett Miller. "I just didn't expect it, it was pretty good."
As a member of the Whitney family, Miller comes from a distinguished line of horsemen and women who certainly know an impressive performance when they see one. He and his late wife, Linda, bred 2007 Carter Handicap (G1) winner Silver Wagon and, on the racing side, he is in possession of the legendary solid Eton blue silks and brown cap that date back to his great grandfather, William C. Whitney.
The mare, So Cunning, holds great personal value to Miller. A fourth generation homebred for the Millers, So Cunning descends from the winning Staff Writer mare So Divine. So Divine was the first filly that Miller bought his wife after they married and many of the offspring the couple owned in partnership, or Linda owned herself, have carried the word "So" in their names.
An average racehorse, So Divine went on to be a solid producer. Included in her progeny was 1996 Virginia Handicap (G3) winner Race Artist, multiple stakes winner So Dashing, stakes winner So Charming, and So Frank, who set track records at Bluegrass Downs for both 1 and 2 miles.
"So Divine went from being bred to the teaser to being bred to Mr. Prospector," Miller said of her rise to success. That daughter of Mr. Prospector was Race Artist, who herself produced two stakes winners.
So Divine's daughter So Ritzy would begin the branch that eventually led to So Happy, producing grade 3-placed So Glitzy, the dam of So Cunning.
A two-time winner from three starts, Miller opted to breed the daughter of Blame to Claiborne stallion Runhappy following a conversation he had with Dell Hancock, a lifelong friend who was a former classmate of Linda's. She told Miller she had two very nice foals by Runhappy out of Blame mares and suggested he breed So Cunning to him. After speaking with another friend, Bernie Sams, he decided to give it a try.
The result was So Happy. Miller and his wife had always operated by selling the colts of their mares at auction and keeping the fillies, if possible, so the decision was an easy one to point him toward the sales.
"This was a colt that we were always going to sell," Miller said. "He was not exactly an impressive weanling, as you could tell be the price."
So Happy sold for just $12,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and was pinhooked for $20,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale the next year. He was then offered again at the 2025 Ocala Breeders' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where he brought $150,000 from trainer Mark Glatt as agent for Hans and Ana Maron, who race under the name Saints or Sinners. Later on, Robert Norman's Norman Stables would buy into the colt. Through two starts, he has earned $156,000.
The colt Miller saw on his television screen Saturday was certainly much different than the one he sold as a yearling, and the 94-year-old is excited for what the future will bring. That connection So Happy's pedigree holds to Miller's late wife has made seeing the colt's success all the more special.
"(So Cunning) was the last mare that she and I owned together. It's very special," he said. "It means a tremendous amount to have a good horse. I'm 94 years old, I'm not going to have too many more of them."
Miller hopes that maybe the young 3-year-old can find his way into the Kentucky Derby (G1) starting gate. Champion sprinter in 2015, Runhappy, who was sold to stand stud in South Korea ahead of the 2026 season, was known for his ability at sprint distances. However, Miller and the colt's owners and trainer are hopeful that the Blame influence on the pedigree will help add distance.
Miller has tasted success on the Derby trail before. He helped plan the mating of Country House , who won the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1) via disqualification, for breeder Joseph Shields Jr.
It does appear that So Happy will get his chance at the Derby trail as Glatt told Santa Anita publicity Jan. 11 that he would likely stretch out to 1 1/16 miles in the $200,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita March 7, which awards Derby qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.
"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."
The colt's Hall of Fame jockey, Mike Smith, was optimistic that So Happy could be successful going longer.
"The way he handled the seven-eighths, usually that's a pretty good indication they will go two turns," Smith said Saturday from the winner's circle. "He was well within himself running underneath the wire."
