Mark Glatt spent years chasing horse racing’s biggest stage. Now that he’s finally there, he is doing it without the woman who cheered him on every step of the way.
AUBURN, Wash. — A horse trainer with Washington state roots will make his Kentucky Derby debut this Saturday, carrying with him both a promising contender and the memory of his late wife.
Mark Glatt, who grew up in Auburn, is readying his horse, named So Happy, for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The 3-year-old colt climbed to 6-to-1 odds Wednesday, making him the third favorite in the 20-horse field.
For Glatt, the race represents the pinnacle of his profession. “It is my Super Bowl,” he said.
Glatt’s roots in horse racing trace back to his childhood, when his father trained horses at Longacres in Renton. He followed that path into the industry, and in the 1990s came to train at the newly opened Emerald Downs — a stint that lasted just one year but changed his life forever. Sitting in a box seat at the track, he met Dena, a waitress who would become his wife and his most devoted supporter.
“She was always by my side at the track,” Glatt said. “If I had horses racing, she would be there almost every day.”
But just months before So Happy earned his Derby spot, Dena passed away on Feb. 12 of this year. Glatt has described the loss as an emptiness beyond words, saying he is simply trying to get through it the best he can.
Even so, he said, her spirit is present everywhere he looks this week at Churchill Downs. When asked to describe Dena, Glatt remembered her this way. “She was always so happy,” he said. “She really was.”
That resemblance — between his horse’s name and the woman who stood beside him throughout his career — has taken on a meaning he didn’t anticipate when he arrived at the Derby. “It brings hope,” Glatt said. “At a time when I need hope.”
So Happy and the rest of the field break from the gate Saturday afternoon. Glatt is clear-eyed about the challenge ahead. “In a 20-horse field, you’ve got to have a lot of luck,” he said, but he also knows the horse has momentum. “People think he has a pretty good shot.”
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