80-1 Odds Wins at Kentucky Derby

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.

In 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

Glen 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 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.

JOHN GLENDON TODD DEC. 20, 1946 – MAR. 27, 2022

Starting from the outside post after making the race as an also-eligible, Rich Strike broke last in the field of 20. Leon quickly guided his mount toward the rail, saving ground.

As Summer Is Tomorrow set suicidal early fractions of 21.78 seconds for the first quartermile and 45.36 seconds for the first half-mile, Leon and Rich Strike bided their time patiently near the rear of the Derby cavalry charge.

Rich Strike was 17th at the quarter pole, had fallen to 18th at the half-mile mark and was still ahead of only two horses three-quarters of a mile into the race.

However, the withering fractions had set the race up for a closer — and when Leon asked Rich Strike to go, the horse exploded.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, I’ve got some horse,” Leon said.

At the top of the stretch, Leon swung the hard-charging Rich Strike toward the rail, taking the “Calvin “Bo-Rail” path that Churchill Downs jockey ace Calvin Borel traveled to Derby victories in 2007 (Street Sense), 2009 (Mine That Bird) and 2010 (Super Saver).

“I waited,” Leon said, “and the rail opened up.”

Sonny’s split-second decision to get off the rail. Reed pointed out that the jockeys who are

Photo Eclipse Sports, John Voorhees. the biggest stars in the sport “all were where Sonny Leon has been at some point (in their careers). He’s a family man, has been content to stay where he is — where he wins.” On Saturday, Leon beat a field that included Hall of Fame riders Mike Smith and John Velazquez, as well as stars of the moment such as Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat, Luis Saez and Joel Rosario. “Those kind of riders get the best horses, ride for the big stables,” Reed said. “Sonny hasn’t gotten that chance.” After a Kentucky Derby ride for the ages, that might change.

Leon was asked what he thought his vintage showing with Rich Strike would mean for his career. “I want to enjoy this moment,” Sonny Leon said. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

However, just as Rich Strike was barreling down the inside toward the front, he ran up on a tiring Messier.

In the move that won the race, Leon swung Rich Strike outside Messier — and had enough horse to plow right on past Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter and Blue Grass Stakes victor Zandon to win North America’s most prestigious horse race.

“How much courage did our jockey have?” asked Rick Dawson, whose RED TR-Racing owns Rich Strike. “He had as much courage as our horse, and that was a lot.”

Leon had ridden Rich Strike in the four races that immediately preceded the Derby.

“He helped me train this horse,” said Reed, Rich Strike’s trainer. “This rider has ridden him all along. (Rich Strike) learned the process and (Leon) taught him how to ride through horses and pass horses.” That is why, both Reed and Dawson said, when they decided they had Kentucky Derby aspirations for Rich Strike, they decided they would stay with Leon instead of looking for a bigger name.

Before Saturday’s tour de force, Leon’s greatest achievement as a rider may have been his back-to-back wins in the Best of Ohio Endurance race on Forewarned. Leon has been a regular rider far from horse racing’s brightest lights at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown, Ohio. He does win races, having won 226 in 2021 out of a whopping 1,125 starts.

Rich Strike takes home the $1.86 million first place prize for the win. Sonny Leon was the winning jockey. The horse had just entered the race on Friday May 6th.

Rich Strike, owned by Richard Dawson’s RED TR-Racing and bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm rallied to win by 3/4 of a length. Trained by Eric Reed and ridden by Sonny Leon, Rich Strike covered the mile and a quarter in 2:02.61 over a fast track and produced an upset second only to Donerail’s triumph at 91-1 in 1913. Rich Strike is the second-biggest longshot in Derby history, after Donerail paid $184.90 in 1913.

Flying Horse Farm of Kelowna BC is the very proud breeder of BRASSY GOLD: grand dam of Kentucky Derby 2022 winner RICH STRIKE! Owner/Breeder RJ & Lois Bennett bred their mare Panning For Gold to their stallion Dixieland Brass - a son of Dixieland Band, resulting in Brassy Gold who foaled on the farm in 1996.

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