Veteran trainer Glatt stays grounded during run of success

Trainer Mark Glatt is having a pretty good year. It started last fall when he won his first trainer’s title at Del Mar. He followed that with his first winter meet trainer’s title at Santa Anita. Then he was inducted into the Washington Hall of Fame. 

That much success could bloat a man’s ego, but Mark Glatt remains grounded, remembering how things can change quickly in this game.

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“Anytime you’re the leading trainer at a substantial meet I think it’s good to be a part of,” Glatt says. “But there are a lot of highs and lows to this game. Most of the time it is a very difficult sport and you go through hard streaks. You have to truly appreciate when things are going well.

“It’s a very nice achievement,” Glatt adds. “It’s a good accomplishment for my owners and my employees that work hard on these horses every day.”

Glatt has been training horses for more than 30 years. He grew up on a farm in Auburn, Washington about 30 miles outside of Seattle. He was an assistant trainer for his father who was a very successful conditioner in his own right in the Pacific Northwest. But as soon as he graduated from college in 1994, he took out his trainer’s license and went out on his own.

He started in his home state and won his first stakes race at Yakima Meadows. His induction into the Washington Hall of Fame was his life coming full circle.

“It was very cool,” Glatt notes of his induction. “It was a nice presentation. Anytime you’re in the Hall of Fame of anywhere it’s very satisfying. Multiple people played a big role in that happening.”

His father, for one, was a major influence on his career. 

“I think he told me not to be a horse trainer,” Glatt muses. “He trained off of instincts and that’s the number one thing I took from him. Just making sure your horse is as happy and as right as possible.”

In addition to Glatt’s duties as a trainer he’s also a member of the Thoroughbred Owners of California board of directors, one of two trainers on the board. But training horses is his true love.

“I think I’m a lifer,” he says.

Glatt has compiled a laundry list of good horses he’s trained over the years. Dr. Schivel, Sharp Samurai, Dr. Venkman and Collusion Illusion to name a few. 

“Sometimes your favorite horses are not always your best horses,” Glatt contends. “Especially if you’ve had them for a fair amount of time. You become attached to certain horses you’ve had for a long time. Horses that overcome odds for one reason or another. I have some horses that are personal favorites but you try to treat them all the same way and give them all the same respect and care that they deserve.”

Sounds like a recipe for success.