ARCADIA, Calif. – The last time trainer Mark Glatt and his children saw his wife, their mother, was the evening of Feb. 11. Dena Glatt, a patient at USC Arcadia Hospital, was blowing kisses from her hospital bed. Across the street at Santa Anita, Glatt’s 3-year-old colt So Happy was safely tucked away in his stall. So Happy had won his first two starts, including the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes a month earlier. Things were looking up. Dena Glatt had been hospitalized for nearly two weeks with an unspecified ailment. Although she was unable to speak, she communicated with hand gestures. She seemed to be recovering. “It looked like we were making progress. It was just a question of her getting strong again,” Mark recalled, his voice cracking. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Glatt, 53, operates one of the top stables in California. This winter, everything changed. On Feb. 12, Dena Glatt died from cardiac arrest. She was 57. Mark and Dena were married 25 years, with three children. There is no easy transition from grief to sport. But sometimes in horse racing, there is overlap. And when the unbeaten colt So Happy starts Saturday in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, Dena Glatt will be on the minds of many. “Going into a big race like this, she’ll be with us,” Mark said. “She’ll be supporting us in spirit, and we need all the help we can get.” Providing support was second nature to Dena. She was a wife and mother, with a 17-year career assisting college students with hearing disabilities. Dena trained as a court reporter before becoming a real-time captioner at Cal Poly Pomona University. It was a juggling act to raise three kids, hold down a career, and build a life with a trainer. Mark’s job is seven days a week, 365 days a year. Dena kept a similar schedule. “It takes a special woman to accept that [training] becomes a way of life,” a teary-eyed Glatt said as he choked up. “Not only was she accepting of it, she embraced it. And she was right there by my side.” Glatt’s training achievements are exemplary. His stable has earned more than $4 million in each of the last four years, and his graded stakes winners include Dr. Schivel, Collusion Illusion, Dr. Venkman, First Peace, Chatalas, and So Happy. Glatt’s climb was always with support from his wife. The first time Mark met Dena was in 1996, during the inaugural meet at Emerald Downs near Seattle. Dena was going to school and working part-time as racetrack waitress. Mark, son of trainer Ron Glatt, was just getting started as a trainer. Mark has a gruff exterior that Dena could see right through. She was waiting tables in the area where Glatt had box seats. “I’m always teased about being grumpy, or never smiling,” Glatt said. “She told me one day, ‘My objective every day is to come here and make you smile.’ And she did.” When the Emerald Downs meet ended that fall, Mark relocated to Northern California with plans to return to Washington the next spring. Plans changed. The grass was greener in California. “I don’t think I’m going back to Seattle,” Mark told Dena. :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. A long-distance relationship was not ideal, so Dena packed up and joined Mark in California. It was slim pickings at first. “We didn’t have much, and she was willing to stay [with me] in a tack room at Golden Gate,” Glatt said. “Eventually, we were able to upgrade a little.” Mark and Dena married in 2000, and after four years in Northern California, the couple decided to give Southern California a try. “We were fairly young, we hadn’t started a family, and we weren’t really tied down to anything,” said Mark. “When you’re young like that, with no terribly big responsibilities, you kind of fly by the seat of your pants. That’s what we did. [Dena] supported me 110 percent.” In California, Glatt’s stable grew, and so did the Glatt family. Mark and Dena’s three children are in their 20s – jockey agent Ryan and college students Luke and Madison. Only three weeks have gone by since Dena passed. Emotions remain raw. Mark acknowledged his life is changed. “You worry about your kids. You worry about yourself,” he said. “It’s an emotional roller coaster that is hard to describe, and I get inadvertent daily reminders. I got a notice addressed to [Dena] that her driver’s license is up for renewal. And then her owner’s license. I’d rather not see those things. There’s no way to really describe [grief]. Everybody tells me you might not completely heal, but it’ll get easier. We’ve had a tremendous amount of support, and it makes a big difference.” He takes solace in stories from others who lost loved ones. “You find the good in people,” he said. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Saturday at Santa Anita, Glatt will focus on So Happy, with the Runhappy colt stretching to 1 1/16 miles in the San Felipe. The colt’s majority owners are Hans and Ana Maron, who race as Saints or Sinners Stable. So Happy is co-owned by Robbie Norman’s Norman Stable. So Happy’s lack of focus in workouts prior to his Nov. 22 debut at Del Mar explains why he paid $78 for winning that race. “We actually have to train that horse in blinkers, we don’t run him in them,” said Glatt, who, despite the colt’s immaturity, was confident So Happy had natural ability. “He didn’t really tout himself as a horse that was going to step up and win first time out. It was more about a lack of focus, maybe not being totally dialed into what was going on. But he certainly put it all together on race day.” So Happy improved second out in the Grade 2 San Vicente. He relaxed early and won by two lengths while still running at the wire. That was seven furlongs around one turn. Two turns in the San Felipe is a different ballgame. “Good horses overcome limitations that we think they might have,” Glatt said. “Because he’s a Runhappy, people are a bit skeptical of how far he’s going to go. But he is out of a Blame mare, so he gets some stamina there, and he doesn’t seem to get tired. He seems to have a lot of natural air.” The colt’s name, So Happy, does not square with the heartache of losing a loved one. For now, Glatt looks forward to running So Happy in the San Felipe, while he cherishes memories. “Dena died way too soon,” he said. “We were married 25 years, together 30. It was an honor to be her husband, and I’m grateful for that.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.