(148th Kentucky Derby ran on May 7 at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky)
By Mark Story, kentucky.com
Sonny Leon gestures after their come-from-behind win… “When I was in the last 70 yards, I said, ‘I think I got this race,’” Leon said. Photo David Coyle.
Celebrating their victory. Photo Dave Clark.
Before 80-1 long shot Rich Strike broke last from the gate in the 148th Kentucky Derby, his rider, Venezuela native Sonny Leon, had such a light footprint in North American horse racing, he had never won a graded stakes race.
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n the 2:02.61 it took to finish the 2022 Run for the Roses, Leon turned in a ride — equal parts patient and fabulously bold — that no one present at Churchill Downs on an overcast Saturday will ever forget. Taking advantage of a suicidal early pace, Leon booted the latecharging Rich Strike from 15th at the 1-mile pole to a stunning threequarters-of-a-length victory over favored Epicenter. Leon’s masterful ride helped Rich Strike become the second-longest shot ever to win a Kentucky Derby. Only 1913 Derby winner, Donerail, who
went off at 91-1, has ever won the roses at a longer price than Rich Strike did. “People kept asking me if I was nervous to ride in my first Kentucky Derby,” Leon said afterward in a joyous news conference. “I said, ‘No, I wasn’t nervous. I was excited.’ I was on an 80-1 shot and nobody knew my horse — but I did. I didn’t know if we could win, but I had a good feeling with him.”
IN MEMORIAM
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len Todd, a longtime advocate for the thoroughbred racing industry, has died. Todd died March 27, 2022 surrounded by his family, according to a message shared on the Hastings Racecourse Facebook page. “Glen played a giant role in British Columbia’s thoroughbred racing industry, whether as an owner of hundreds of racehorses in recent years, or as a business leader in providing direction, insight and vital influence over the ongoing sustainability of the industry,” the message read. “Glen’s passion and commitment to the industry — and the people within it — was unparalleled and will be sorely missed.” Last July, Todd extended an interest-free $1 million loan to fund purse money and keep races going at East Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse over the summer 2021, while the industry continued to battle COVID-19 prompted business woes. “People were getting desperate, we were going to have to lay all these people off, they had nowhere to go with their horses,” said Todd, who was the owner-trainer of the North American Thoroughbred Horse Co. About 700 staff are employed through the racing season and some 50-to-60 staff with specialized skills live
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with, and care for, the horses at the racetrack. At the time, Todd said he wasn’t looking for acknowledgment or accolades, just that he wanted to keep jobs in place and horses running. The money was administered by the B.C. Thoroughbred Owners & Breeders and the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective associations. None of it went to Great Canadian Casino, which owns Hastings Inc. and houses the racetrack. — With files from Denise Ryan Glen (aka Mr.T, Dad, Pops, GT, Partner) is survived by his daughters, Shelley (Mike) Bancroft, and Dana (Jason) Barker, grandchildren, Dawson Bancroft, Lincoln, Declan and Fisher Barker, sister Diane, and Mario (Rebecca) Gutierrez and was predeceased by his wife Sandra in 2007. His extended family spans near and far as Glen touched many and treated them all like family, especially through the horse and softball worlds he was so closely attached to. Glen was a father, grandfather, mentor, business leader and friend to so many. A reception was held in Langley BC on April 28th. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donations be made to Glen Todd Legacy Fund benefiting New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society www.newstride.com. Donations can be made online or by calling directly.
JOH N GLEN DON TODD D E C . 2 0 , 19 4 6 – M A R . 2 7, 2 0 2 2
