The Washington Racing Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony prior to Saturday's races, with trainer Mark Glatt, owner Paskey Dedomenico, breeders Ron and Nina Hagen, and 2008 Longacres Mile winner Wasserman its 2025 honorees.
Glatt, who grew up minutes away from Emerald Downs, has developed into a perennial leading trainer at Santa Anita and Del Mar, amassing over 1,300 wins and $51 million in earnings. The son of renowned Washington trainer Ron Glatt, Mark Glatt has 31 graded wins including Grade 1s with Dr. Schivel and Collusion Illusion and a 2019 Longacres Mile triumph with Law Abidin Citizen.
"It's very humbling to be standing up here, very satisfying," Glatt said. "I have a tremendous supporting cast that have gotten me here, including my dad Ron and my family."
In what might be a racing first, 23-year-old Wasserman attended the ceremony from the winner's circle along with regular rider Jennifer Whitaker. Bred in 2002, the Washington-bred by Cahill Road-Share the Knight retired in 2013 as Emerald Downs' all-time leading earner with $575,024. Owned and trained by Howard Belvoir, Wasserman won four stakes in a magical 2008 campaign including a dramatic Longacres Mile victory in which Whitaker became the only woman rider to win the historic race.
A giant in business with Golden Grain (Rice-a-Roni), Paskey Dedomenico cast an even bigger shadow in Washington racing, buying more yearlings including three sales-toppers during a 20-year run beginning in 1968 with the first WTBA Sale. Dedomenico's biggest wins included Irish Bear's sweep of the Longacres Derby and British Columbia Derby in 1987 and Sing a Roni in the 1974 Gottstein Futurity.
Ron and Nina Hagen's El Dorado Farms have reigned as Washington's leading breeder eight times including 2024. The Hagens bred state champions Freight Line, Coastal Kid, Slew the Man, Knight Raider and Dutton, the latter voted 2020 Emerald Downs Horse of the Meeting. The Hagens are honorary stewards for Sunday's 90th Longacres Mile.
Washington Hall of Fame winners are determined by a voting panel composed of members of Emerald Downs, WTBOA, Washington HBPA, and Media.