Mark Hennig was born in 1965, in Mansfield, Ohio. As a teenager, Mark spent his summers’ working for either his father, trainer John Hennig or his friend, Neil Howard. After two and a half years of college at Ohio State University, the call of the race track brought him back to his father’s stable. Mark continued to assist his father until his father unselfishly encouraged him to set his sights on loftier goals. With his father’s assistance, he landed a job working with Hall Of Fame trainer, Jack Van Berg, in May of 1987. He worked in Southern California for Van Berg, before he was hired by Hall Of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, in September of that year, later becoming one of his assistants.
In the summer of 1992, Mark was given the chance to go on his own, as the trainer of record. Only one year after opening his own stable, in 1993, Mark went on to finish in the Nation’s Top 10 Trainers with earnings of over $4,000,000. He was fortunate to train not only Star Of Cozzene, winner of The GI Arlington Million, but also Personal Hope, winner of the GI Santa Anita Derby. In total, Mark’s horses won 19 stakes that year and placed in 35 more. In 1995 Mark went on to form a public stable, largely due to the support of Edward P. Evans, for whom he won 45 graded stakes in his career.
Since starting his stable 26 years ago, Mark has posted 26 straight years of over $1 million in purses. Hennig trained horses have won over 100 graded stakes and over $70 million in earnings. With help from his wife Rosemary, Mark has continued to succeed at the top level of racing.
