Dena Glatt, wife of trainer Mark Glatt, dies at 57

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California racing community is mourning the death of Dena Glatt, wife of prominent trainer Mark Glatt, after a recent illness.

Dena Glatt died Feb. 12 at the age of 57.

Raised in Washington state, Dena Carey met Mark Glatt in 1996, the first year of racing at Emerald Downs, near Seattle.

Mark Glatt recalled over the weekend that he had box seats at Emerald Downs and that Dena was a waitress in that section of the stands. They soon began dating. Dena accompanied Mark Glatt to Northern California that fall when he moved his stable to the Bay Area.

The couple moved to Southern California a few years later. Glatt has won training titles at Del Mar and Santa Anita in recent years.

The Glatts were married for 25 years.

“She was a wonderful person,” Mark Glatt said on Sunday. “She aimed to please everyone in her life. She was one of those people that could strike up a conversation with anybody.

“She touched a lot of people’s lives; different people here and there.”

Survivors include three adult children – Ryan, Luke, and Madison. Ryan Glatt is a jockey’s agent in California.

On Saturday, the family’s Seahawk Racing had a winner with Shangrilama in a starter allowance at Santa Anita.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date, Mark Glatt said.

A previous version of this article misstated Dena Glatt's age at the time of her death. She was 57, not 53.

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