Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

With the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) having gone into effect on July 1, the TDN will also post a roundup of the relevant HISA-related rulings from the same week.

California:
Track: Los Alamitos
Date: 10/02/2022
Licensee: Juan Hernandez, jockey
Penalty: One-day suspension, $278 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the whip
Explainer: Having violated the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2280 (Use of Riding Crop) and pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties – Class 3), Jockey Juan Hernandez, who rode COUNTRY GRAMMER in the eighth race at Santa Anita Park on October 1, 2022, is suspended for one (1) day (October 9, 2022), and fined $278.00 (10% of jockey's portion of the purse) for one (1) strike over the limit. Furthermore, Jockey Juan Hernandez is assigned three (3) violation points that will be expunged on April 2, 2023, six (6) months from the date of final adjudication pursuant to Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Rule #2282 (Riding Crop Violations and Penalties. Jockey Juan Hernandez has accrued a total of six (6) points.

Florida:
The following was reported on the Association for Racing Commissioners International's recent rulings website.
Track: Gulfstream Park
Date: 10/05/2022
Licensee: Herbert Miller, trainer
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: STEWARD'S RULING FINAL ORDER # 2022-037344 – F.S. 550.2415 = METHOCARBAMOL. $1000 FINE IMPOSED AND DUE 10/20/22 TO GULFSTREAM PARK HORSEMENS BOOKKEEPER. LOSS OF PURSE IMPOSED ALSO. “I'LL FIGURE IT OUT”

Track: Gulfstream Park
Date: 10/05/2022
Licensee: Lis Duco, trainer
Penalty: $1,000 fine
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: STEWARD'S RULING FINAL ORDER # 2022-037253 – F.S. 550.2415 VIOLATION = TRANEXAMIC ACID. $1000 FINE IMPOSED AND DUE 10/20/22 TO GULFSTREAM PARK HORSEMENS BOOKKEEPER. LOSS OF PURSE ALSO IMPOSED. “AMOR LEJANO”

Kentucky:
Track: Churchill Downs
Date: 10/01/2022
Licensee: Keith York, owner-trainer
Penalty: Suspended license
Violation: Disorderly conduct
Explainer: Keith York is hereby suspended for disorderly conduct and his formal rejection from Ellis Park that occurred on September 29, 2022.

Track: Churchill Downs
Date: 10/02/2022
Licensee: Sonny Leon, jockey
Penalty: 15-day suspension
Violation: Intentional attempt to interfere during racing
Explainer: After being represented at a hearing before the Board of Stewards, Sonny R Leon, who rode Rich Strike in the tenth race at Keeneland on Oct. 1, 2022, is hereby suspended 15 racing days, October 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, and October 29, 2022, for intentionally attempting to interfere with and impede the progress of a rival by repeatedly making physical contact with another rider into the stretch.

NEW HISA STEWARDS RULINGS
Note: While HISA has shared these rulings over the past week, some of them originate from prior weeks.

Violations of Crop Rule:
Albuquerque Downs
Luis Ramon Rodriguez–ruling date September 18, 2022
Alejandro Medellin–ruling date October 1, 2022
Miguel Angel Perez–ruling date October 1, 2022

Aqueduct
Manny Franco–ruling date September 29, 2022
Jose Ortiz–ruling date September 29, 2022
Jose Lezcano–ruling date September 30, 2022

Churchill Downs
Jose Riquelme–ruling date September 25, 2022
Edgar Moorales–ruling date September 25, 2022
Joseph Talamo–ruling date September 25, 2022
Joseph Rocco, Jr.–ruling date September 30, 2022
Corey Lanerie–ruling date October 2, 2022

Delaware Park
Carlos Eduardo Lopez–ruling date October 1, 2022
Prairie Meadows
Cassidy Fletcher–ruling date October 2, 2022

Remington Park
Erick Medellin–ruling date September 28, 2022
Presque Isle Downs
Helen Alice Beckman–ruling date September 28, 2022
Eduardo Rojas–ruling date September 30, 2022

Voided Claims
Churchill Downs
Violent Gigi–ruling date September 21, 2022
Beverly's Charge–ruling date September 21, 2022
Mine Own Star–ruling date September 25, 2022
Indimaaj–ruling date September 25, 2022
Supremacy – ruling date September 28, 2022

Horseshoe Indianapolis
Rio Lady–ruling date September 27, 2022

Violations Involving Forfeiture of Purse
Albuquerque Downs
Luis Ramon Rodriquez–$500 fine; 3-day suspension; 5 points; 7-day additional suspension due to accumulation of 11 HISA points

Appeal Request Updates
Albuquerque Downs

Luis Ramon Rodriquez
Crop rule violation
Ruling date September 18, 2022
Appeal filed September 28, 2022
Stay denied

Oscar Ceballos (rider of horse owned by Joseph Peacock, Jr.)
Crop rule violation
Ruling date September 25, 2022
Appeal filed October 3, 2022
Stay granted

The post Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings Sept. 27-Oct. 3 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“For me, it's going to be different, that's for sure,” he said. “I've never had a horse who can run at this level. I'm only doing this because of this horse. I never wanted to just go to the Breeders' Cup. I only wanted to go if I had a legitimate shot. This is a really nice horse, and I think we have a shot. He's fast. He just gallops when everyone else is running. I know there will be some really good horses in there, but we don't know what we've got because no one has ever challenged him.”

How good is Tyler's Tribe, who is an Iowa-bred?

“We just don't know,” he said. “Every time the rider [Prairie Meadows' leading jockey Kylee Jordan] rides him, she comes back and tells us she had more horse, that she wasn't even asking him to run. Every time she says he had more left. So I don't know how fast he could go. He runs with them and then when they get to the lane he just takes off.”

Martin said it's likely that Tyler's Tribe will run in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He has never run on the grass, but Martin doesn't believe the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a good fit because his horse has never run beyond six furlongs.

“I'm leaning toward the short race,” he said of the 5 1/2-furlong heat. “If I were going to experiment with him, I would have liked to do it before a big race. I know he's fast. I know he's super fast, so I'm thinking our best chance is the turf race. I think he will like the turf. There is turf in his pedigree. He's got some siblings who have done well on the turf. I know he's fast and that he can run short. Long? I just don't know. It would be hard to stretch him out right now.”

Martin said he and co-owner Tom Lepic have fielded plenty of offers to sell the horse, but have told everyone the answer is no. One of the reasons is a sentimental one. The horse is named after Lepic's grandson, Tyler, whose long battle with leukemia has turned a corner of late.

“I've had some good offers for him,” Martin said. “But I've never had a horse anywhere close to this in my career, and he's named after Tyler. We never wanted to sell him and it doesn't matter what the offers have been. We had a couple offers for $500,000. They could have offered $1 million. We still wouldn't be interested. He's not for sale. We're having fun and I've always said you can't put a price on fun.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the Writer's Room unveiled its new lineup, which consists of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman. The trio went over last week's big races and the controversy surrounding Sonny Leon and his ride aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the GII Lukas Classic S. and his subsequent suspension. The win by Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Woodward S. was also part of the discussion, with Moss saying the race may have been better than it looked at first glance. The team also reviewed the GI Awesome Again S., won by Defunded (Dialed In), and Christophe Soumillion's antics in France and looked ahead at this weekend's blockbuster lineup of graded stakes and preps for the Breeders' Cup.

Click here to watch the show or click here for the audio-only version.

The post Martin, Trainer of Tyler’s Tribe, Joins Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The head-on view of the race clearly showed Leon leaning into jockey Tyler Gaffalione on winner Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) and he appeared to elbow his rival rider.

In a ruling issued Sunday, the stewards determined that Leon was guilty of “intentionally attempting to interfere with and impede the progress of a rival by repeatedly making physical contact with another rider in the stretch.”

Leon did not respond to a text message from the TDN seeking comment.

At about the time that Rich Strike started to come over and jostle with Hod Rod Charli,e it appeared that Leon's saddle might have slipped, which could have caused him to lose balance. Rich Strike's trainer, Eric Reed, told Horse Racing Nation that Leon told him his saddle did in fact slip.

“Sonny said the saddle loosened to the left,” Reed told the website. “He said, 'I started to lose my balance. The saddle slipped over and made me lean to the left.' If that doesn't happen, we win the race.”

Rich Strike passed Hot Rod Charlie a few jumps before the wire and appeared to have the race won, but Hot Rod Charlie surged again in the final strides to win by a head.

Several pundits took to Twitter to claim that Rich Strike would have won if not for the incident and that Leon cost his mount the race. Retired jockey and TV analyst Richard Migliore tweeted:

After watching the Lukas classic numerous times @SONNYLEON1 cost Rich Strike the win by pulling him over to Hot Rod Charlie and putting his elbow into @Tyler_Gaff instead of going forward and driving to the wire. When does this BS stop? It's horse racing not jockey racing. Enough

— TheMig4450 (@mig4450) October 2, 2022

Leon's suspension is for 15 racing days and begins Oct. 9 and runs through Oct. 29.

Leon's greatest moment came in the GI Kentucky Derby when the jockey, who was largely unknown outside the Ohio circuit, guided Rich Strike to victory and was widely praised for his ride.

The post Leon Suspended for Ride on Rich Strike appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Reflections on an interesting weekend of racing:

(*) No, Rich Strike did not win the GII Lukas Classic S. at Churchill Downs. A very game Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) had a second surge and came back just before the wire to nip him by a head. But not only was there no shame in losing, this was the best race of Rich Strike's career-better, yes, the GI Kentucky Derby-and finally put to rest that he was a one-race wonder who just got lucky on the first Saturday in May.

There was plenty of reason to doubt this horse after the Derby. He was 80-1, probably should have been even higher, and benefitted from a massive pace meltdown and a perfect trip under the unheralded rider Sonny Leon. It looked like a fluke and even more so when he never threatened in the GI Belmont S. and finished sixth, beaten 13 1/4 lengths.

He came back in the GI Travers S. and certainly didn't embarrass himself, running fourth behind the immensely talented divisional leader Epicenter (Not This Time). But fourth is not first and he lost by 5 ½ lengths.

Trainer Eric Reed then made the decision to skip the GI Pennsylvania Derby and take on older horses in the Lukas Classic. He didn't exactly find an easy spot. With Hod Rod Charlie, Happy Saver (Super Saver) and Art Collector (Bernardini), the race was loaded. Considering the quality of the field and that the race was for 3-year-olds and up, you can make the argument that the race was a tougher assignment than the Derby. And he ran his heart out, losing to an accomplished and tenacious Grade I winning 4-year-old who has bankrolled more than $5.5 million.

“He hooked the toughest horses he has ever ran against and ran on the outside the whole way,” Reed said after the race. “Look how far he has come since May. I can only imagine what it's going to be like next year.”

Good point: this colt is obviously improving and should be an outstanding 4-year-old.

It's also worth noting that he was much closer to the pace than normal in the race Saturday at Churchill. He was never further back than fourth and never more than 2 ½ lengths off the lead. That should serve him well as trying to win races from 15 lengths off the pace is never an easy way to go.

Reed hasn't said yet if Rich Strike will go next in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The other option is the GI Clark S. on Nov. 25. Considering the depth of the Classic and the presence of a certain horse named Flightline (Tapit) and Rich Strike's affinity for the Churchill surface the Clark looks like the better option. Either way, it looks like he will show up and be competitive. He's not Flightline, he may not be Epicenter, but he is what he is–a very good horse and a deserving winner of the Kentucky Derby.

(*) The Lukas Classic was not without controversy. Aboard Rich Strike, Sonny Leon appeared to be leaning into Tyler Gaffalione on Hot Rod Charlie and elbowing him as the two horses neared the wire. Retired jockey and TV analyst Richard Migliore took to Twitter to criticize Leon and claim that his actions cost Rich Strike the race.

“After watching the Lukas classic numerous times @SONNYLEON1 cost Rich Strike the win by pulling him over to Hot Rod Charlie and putting his elbow into @Tyler_Gaff instead of going forward and driving to the wire,” he tweeted. “When does this BS stop? It's horse racing not jockey racing. Enough.”

NYRA linemaker David Aragona also had his say on Twitter.”As much as I'd like to praise how well Rich Strike ran today, this is pretty bad stuff from the jock,” he wrote. “Obviously crossing a line. A suspension is warranted for these kind of shenanigans.

Others on Twitter were kinder, arguing that Leon's saddle slipped and that was what caused him to lean into Gaffalione, which, the head-on replay shows, he clearly did.

(*) Maybe the GI Woodward S. was nothing more than a paid public workout for Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and all he needed to do was get around the racetrack. He did in fact het the job done. But with his reputation and his odds of 1-20 weren't you expecting more than a 1 1/4-length win and a 97 Beyer figure? There was even a moment when it looked like eventual runner-up Law Professor (Constitution) was going to beat and post what would have been a colossal upset.Take nothing away from Life Is Good. He's won three Grade I races this year and if not for Flightline would be the favorite for the Horse of the Year title. But if he is going to be in competitive in the Classic he will need to run much better than he did Saturday.

(*) The GI Awesome Again S. was a chance to enhance Flightline's reputation, if such a thing is possible. The race included, in Country Grammer (Tonalist), Royal Ship (Brz) and Express Train (Union Rags), the horses who were second, third and fourth when Flightline turned in his electrifying performance in the GI Pacific Classic. Had that group come back with strong collective efforts in the Awesome Again it would have made Flightiline's race look even better.

It didn't happen.

The race was won by Defunded (Dialed In), who was coming of a sixth-place finish in the GII Pat O'Brien S. Country Grammer was second but was a disappointment at odds of 11-10. Express Train was fourth and Royal Ship was sixth. Neither ran well.

This doesn't mean that Flightline isn't a once-in-a-lifetime talent, but it's clear that, beyond him, the older male division in California is a weak one.

(*) Horse racing remains the only gambling game where you can cash a winning bet and feel like a chump. It happened again in the Awesome Again. When the field was loading into the gate Defunded was 8-1. The gate opened, he got out front and, lo and behold, he was 5-1 on the next flash. He paid $12.

Once again, the computer players got fat and happy at the expense of the everyday player who wagered on Defunded thinking they had bet on a horse that would pay in the neighborhood of 8-1. The winners were made to feel like losers. And the problem is not going to go away. The CAW players wager far too much money for any track to refuse their bets.

Fixed odds can't come soon enough, but it looks like industry is in no hurry to at least give them a try. Why? In fact, FanDuel is prepared to offer bets on racing on its sports betting platforms, but with pari-mutuel odds. You think the sports bettor would be OK with betting the Mets at -160 only to be told after the first pitch the odds were really -210? Of course not. It's hard to imagine a marriage of sports betting and racing working without fixed odds.

(*) Chad Brown keeps getting better and better with young dirt horses. When he won the GI Champagne S. at Aqueduct with Blazing Sevens (Good Magic), it was his second straight win in the race and his fourth overall. Blazing Seven's sire, Good Magic (Curlin), was second in the 2017 Champagne.

The post Rich Strike Is For Real, And Other Thoughts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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With a firm opinion of what went wrong in the Rich Strike's sixth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 11, Reed is expecting a much better performance in the $1.25-million signature race of the Saratoga Race Course meet Aug. 27. He will be the first Derby winner to run in the Travers since Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) finished ninth in 2017. The last horse to complete the Derby-Travers double was Street Sense (Street Cry) in 2007.

Rich Strike was the sensational and shocking winner of the Derby May 7 at odds of 80-1. Under little-known jockey Sonny Leon, he benefitted from a torrid early pace, made a run from far back and wove around a bunch of horses without checking in the stretch. Approaching the wire, he zipped past the dueling leaders, Epicenter (Not This Time) and Zandon (Upstart), on the inside to complete a storybook performance. His connections decided to skip the GI Preakness S. two weeks later and focused on the Belmont, where he turned up as an also-ran.

Reed shipped his colt from Kentucky to Saratoga Sunday and said he has him ready to start the second half of his season in America's oldest race for 3-year-olds.

“He's going to show up and run his race and if he can beat Epicenter and those horses again, good for us,” Reed said. “I know he can. He's done it once before.”

The journey to Saratoga by van was uneventful and Reed said that Rich Strike seems comfortable in his new surroundings at Dale Romans's barn. Reed and Romans have known each other since they were young trainers sharing the same barn at the old Latonia track, now Turfway Park.

“He shipped really good,” Reed said. “When he got here he was bucking and playing in the shedrow as soon as we unloaded him, so the trip didn't seem to take too much out of him.”

Though it's only been a couple of days, Reed said that Rich Strike looks to be smoothly getting over the main track, which is about 200 yards from his stall.

“He seems happier on the track,” Reed said. “He trained great at Belmont, but it seemed to me watching him that he was really putting a lot into it. Up here, he's training as hard but he's not having to put as much into it. I don't know if that's just the difference in surface or what it is, but really in the 10 weeks off he's matured a lot. He's calmed down He's just seemed like he's more relaxed about doing this and not so swelled up trying to show off so much. He's trained great.”

In the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, Reed asked Leon to keep the colt on the outside and away from traffic in the field of eight. He said he realized by the time the field reached the first turn that it was the wrong strategy. Reed said that even though the colt comes from off the pace, he is at his best when he is surrounded by the competition.

“The race was not the right race anyway, for his style,” Reed said. “I think if I hadn't given Sonny those instructions, he could have been down where he wanted to be and he would have tried a lot harder. We'd never, ever had him out in the middle of the track in any race. He's run in the center of the track in the Derby, but he had horses all around him on both sides. And we just learned that if he doesn't have a horse to the right, he just gets too aggressive with the horse beside him. But if they're on each side, he just wants to fight all of them and he'll run through them. I didn't know that. My God, we had one speed horse, we were the deep closer and six gallopers. I said 'the worst, you're going to be two or three wide when you got to run by them. Don't get in trouble.' It was a bad decision. You could see he had his head cocked the whole way around the turn trying to get to the inside.”

While he understands the error, Reed said he hasn't gotten past the disappointment of how the Belmont played out.

“It still haunts me,” he said. “Not because of me, but because everybody starts saying 'I told you so.' But every race that horse ran all year he ran great. The competition got better every race. The races were tougher, every race, and he kept getting better and better and better. The only bad race, or anomaly, wasn't the Derby, it was the Belmont.

Reed looks at the 1 1/4-mile Travers as a fresh start. He hopes he will get his colt to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic and the division title. The veteran trainer said he was never tempted to give Rich Strike a prep for the Travers.

“No, we were going to give him a mid-summer break,” Reed said. “He needs a little bit more time between races than most horses so there was no way we could hit the [GI] Haskell S. or the [GII] Jim Dandy S. because of the timing. The Haskell was on the wrong track anyway, another track for speed horses, and it's 1 1/8 miles. We knew we wanted to give him a little break. He had come off five races, the Derby, the Belmont and then he's had six breezes. He got 30 days of light training, which to him is still pretty hard training. I think we're right where we always wanted to be.”

Reed will work Rich Strike a half-mile early Friday morning.

“'I'm not going to go fast,” Reed said. “He had a really hard work at Churchill [5f in :59.40 on Aug. 10], so I know we were fit. I'd like :49 or :50 and maybe a 1:02 gallop out.”

Reed acknowledged that the arrival of the Derby winner–the 27th in history to try the Travers–has attracted a lot of interest in Saratoga.

“They've got to come see him,” Reed said. “I guess they're all waiting to see if he's going to back the Derby race up, which I don't blame him. I'm pretty sure he'll run better than in the Belmont.”

The post Rich Strike Looks to Complete Derby/Travers Double appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Leon has been riding at Belterra Park, where he was fourth in the standings with 33 wins entering Thursday's card.

“He's going to move his tack there for now and give it a shot,” said Jeff Perrin, his agent at Belterra. Perrin will not be working with Leon at Gulfstream. “His last day in Ohio will be Friday and then he'll head to Florida. He was friends with Emisael Jaramillo, who was second in the standings, and that jockey got hurt. He will be working with his agent, who has a good book of business. You can't blame Sonny. It's a great opportunity. We won the Kentucky Derby. We shocked the world.”

Leon has flourished at lesser tracks like Belterra and Mahoning Valley, but, aside from the Kentucky Derby, has had few mounts at major tracks. The Derby is his only graded stakes win. Trying to break in against a solid riding colony at Gulftstream will be a big test of his abilities.

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Coming off his first-ever graded stakes win in the Run for the Roses, Leon ran second in race one, third in race two, and won going away in race three. Fittingly, the 3 3/4-length victory aboard Runway Rosie (Tonalist) in the $18,800 allowance contest was for trainer Eric Reed. Prior to the race in the paddock, he shared an enthusiastic high-five with Rich Strike's groom, Jerry Dixon Jr. After the winner's circle photo, he posed with a '2022 Kentucky Derby Winner' sign and the crowd applauded as they watched a congratulatory video on the main screen with well-wishes from Belterra's racing community.

Leon wrapped up Friday's card with two more second-place finishes and a win in the finale.

“We had a very good moment last week but right now we've got to go back to reality,” Leon said at the end of the day. “We had a couple wins today. We made a Sonny day.”

Throughout the afternoon and even half an hour after the races had finished, fans gathered around the paddock waving racing programs and Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve bottles. Leon willingly obliged their requests for signatures and photos, taking in all the added fanfare in stride.

“That was fun,” he said. “This is my first time having a moment like this. I took pictures with a lot of people and gave a lot of signatures.”

A native of Venezuela, Leon moved to the U.S. in 2015. He first started out at Gulfstream Park before moving his tack to the Ohio and Kentucky circuits. With several jockey titles at Mahoning Valley already to his credit, he is currently ranked among the top five jockeys at this year's Belterra race meet.

Leon first rode Rich Strike last December at Fair Grounds, finishing fifth to Epicenter (Not This Time) in the Gun Runner S. Leon described Rich Strike as “a little green” in the race in New Orleans, but noted that the colt gained valuable experience and learned a lot since then.

Leon said he was not nervous as Kentucky Derby day dawned. He was just thrilled to be running in the Kentucky Derby.

“My dream came true when Eric Reed called me Friday morning and said, 'Man, we got in,'” Leon recalled. “That was my best moment when I heard from him. I got super excited. I spoke with my wife and she was excited. I didn't know he was going to win the Kentucky Derby, but I knew in that moment that I would ride in the Kentucky Derby. I wanted to just enjoy my moment and that's what I did.”

The ultra-impressive ride Leon gave Rich Strike that day has been analyzed all week, but for the jockey himself, he believes the keys to his success were about having patience and knowing his horse.

“I knew they went fast in the beginning,” he explained. “I wanted to go to the inside to save ground, which was perfect. We saved a couple lengths there. I stayed far away because that's the way this horse likes to run. When I got to the three-eighths, I found a lot of traffic but I didn't get desperate. That was a good move, to be patient. When turning for home, I had to wait until they opened up the rail. I didn't know where to go because I still had a few horses in front of me. The rail opened up and wow, that was amazing because my horse got clear and he answered beautifully.”

'Wow' is a term Leon uses a lot when talking about Rich Strike and their accomplishments together.

“We have a very good connection and that is what was so special for me,” he said. “What can I say? We did it.”

On Thursday, Rich Strike's connections announced that they would skip the GI Preakness S. and instead, point toward the GI Belmont S. It was a decision that Leon supports wholeheartedly.

“I think it was a very wise move,” he said. “The horse needed some time to get a good recovery and get some rest. The Belmont is going to be a perfect distance for him. It's a long distance and a deep track. I think he's going to be tough.”

Until then, Leon plans to soak up every opportunity that his outstanding Derby performance provides, be it in a Grade I at Belmont or a claiming race at Belterra.

“My next goal is to go to the Belmont and enjoy that moment. It's a big race. It's going to be a tough race, but I think my horse, Rich Strike, can do it. After that we'll see what happens, but I'm happy to go back home and go to Belterra Park to win a couple more races.”

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But how? He benefitted from a pace meltdown, ran the race of his life and, most importantly, got one of the best rides in Derby history from a guy you probably never heard of. His name is Sonny Leon and he outrode Joel Rosario, Flavien Prat and a bunch of other guys who are in the Hall of Fame or will be some day. As they say, go figure.

“[Leon] gave him the greatest ride I have ever seen,” winning trainer Eric Reed said.

Here's what he did: Breaking from the 20 post, Leon made a beeline for the rail right out of the break. Horses from the 20 post are supposed to go five, six wide in the first turn. Leon, 32, had him in the two path. He was 17th down the backstretch and the jockey was patient, obviously realizing that a premature move would do him in. Rich Strike was motoring at the three-eighths pole and Leon had a decision to make. He could try to go around horses, which would have guaranteed a clear run to the wire, or he could take his chances and hope a hole would open up on the rail where he could save ground. He went inside, but Messier (Empire Maker) was in his way. Leon stayed calm and steered his mount around a tiring Messier. From there, with a clear path to the wire, Rich Strike ran like a wild horse. He won by 3/4 of a length over Epicenter (Not This Time) and 2021 Eclipse Award winning jockey Joel Rosario. On Zandon (Upstart), Flavien Prat was third.

After it was over, Jerry Bailey, arguably the best rider of his generation, was absolutely gushing about Leon.

“He did a fantastic job,” Bailey said on the NBC broadcast. “From the 20 post, he got to the inside on the first turn…It was a brilliant ride by Sonny Leon. You have to tip your hat to him.”

So, just who is Sonny Leon?

After trainer Eric Reed claimed Rich Strike from trainer Joe Sharp and breeder Calumet Farm out of a $30,000 maiden claimer back on Sept. 17 at Churchill, he rode Julien Leparoux in his next start. The result was a third-place finish. Then he went to Leon. With his new rider, Rich Strike was fifth in the Gun Runner S., third in the Leonatus S., fourth in the Battaglia Memorial S. and third in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks.

It might have been time to try someone else. Though he never could have gotten the likes of an Irad Ortiz Jr., a Luis Saez or a Prat to ride the horse, surely, he could have gotten someone else, someone who had a proven record in races like the Kentucky Derby. Nope. He went with Sonny Leon.

“Eric sold me on Sonny,” winning owner Richard Dawson said. “A month or so back we had a conversation, like most people. You're looking at options. And it was if you get in the Derby, are we going to stick with Sonny? He said, 'I want to stick with Sonny.' I I would never, ever change at that point. I said I may not change my socks, let alone my jock. I've watched Sonny ride a bunch. And his courage, his smartness on the track…I mean, he's athletic. Don't ever wrestle this guy because it's not going to be fun. He's our kind of guy.”

Or, maybe, Reed didn't bother to make a switch because Rich Strike was on the also-eligible list and didn't figure to draw in. We will never know.

“I knew this horse could do it if he found his way through the traffic,” Reed said. “That's why I had Sonny on him. He got us here.”

According to Equibase, Leon a native of Venezuela, has had 5,175 mounts in the U.S. with 769 winners. He made his riding debut in North America in 2015, when he won all of nine races. Prior to the Derby, he had never won a graded stakes race. His biggest wins had been in a trio of $100,000 races, the 2021 and 2020 runnings of the Best of Ohio Endurance S. and the 2021 Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten S.

After coming over from his native country, Leon found his niche. He became a big deal on the Ohio racing circuit. He's won the last four riding titles at Mahoning Valley and was second in the standings at the 2021 meet at Belterra Park and third at the 2020 meet there. He warmed up for the Derby by riding five horses Friday at Belterra. In his last mount before the Derby, he finished second on the 7-10 favorite Elliot the Dragon (Kantharos) in a $26,400 Ohio-bred allowance. His last win before the Derby came in a $5,000 claimer.

That was on Tuesday at Belterra, another slow day at a slow racetrack with cheap horses. On Saturday, Sonny Leon was the king of the world–the most unlikely king of the world horse racing has ever seen. How can you explain such a thing?

“It's a horse race, and anybody can win,” Reed said.

Will this win, this sensational ride, be a launching pad to stardom for the Venezuelan?

“I want to enjoy this moment, and we'll see what happens tomorrow,” Leon said.

Leon said he's going to spend the next few days vacationing with his family in Tampa. Then it will be back to work, at Belterra, with the $5,000 claimers and the Ohio breds. Then there will be the GI Preakness S., where the pundits probably won't give this horse much of a chance. Won't be another pace meltdown like there was in the Derby, they will say. They'll probably be right. Leon's next winner will no doubt be back at Belterra in a race that doesn't matter all that much.

But he will always have the 2022 Kentucky Derby. It was his moment, his two minutes–2:02.61 to be exact–of fame. The horse did his part, but he never would have won if not for a perfect ride from his jockey. Good on you, Sonny Leon.

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The son of Twinspired-Sharon's Way, by Proud Citizen, romped to his fourth lifetime triumph against seven rivals in the six-furlong sprint for Accredited Ohio-bred freshmen. Thedayofthegrey is trained and co-owned by Robert C. Cline, along with co-owner Richard M. Wilkinson, who bred the gelding, and upped his career earnings to $175,500 with this latest win.

This outstanding youngster finished four lengths ahead of 10-1 Relish the Ride (Luis Rivera), with 5-1 Out for Fun (Christian Pilares) third, and 22-1 Powerful Phil (Alex Gonzalez) fourth. The winner was clocked in a modest 1:13.54.

Niceasakittenseyes, an 80-1 longshot, surprised everyone with a late stretch rally that saw her capture the $75,000 Bobby Bricker Memorial Handicap, a one-mile and 70-yard contest for Ohio Accredited fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up. This 3-year-old daughter by William's Kitten-Shestwiceasnice, by Parents' Reward, is trained by Craig Sweeting for owner Melissa Edgington and picked up her first stakes victory with jockey Fernando Salazar Becerra in the irons.

Niceasakittenseyes was clocked in 1:45.93, finishing a length in front of 9-2 Mobil Lady (Sonny Leon), with 7-1 Edge Of Night (Christian Pilares) third, and 9-5 favorite Star Rules (Jose Sanchez) fourth. The winner notched her third career win in 15 starts with the Bricker triumph and upper her career bankroll to $104,598.

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Owned by the Trin-Brook Stables, the 6-year-old son of Flat Out-Fortune Play, by Five Star Day picked up career victory number nine in 42 starts. Forewarned also has seven seconds and four thirds from 43 lifetime starts and now has $687,633 in his bankroll for trainer Uriah St. Lewis. The 9-5 favorite was bred by Preston Stables.

“He broke a little slow today but I rushed him up and was able to get a good position and with the muddy trip, even though I had to use all my goggles, he got in a good spot to win the race,” said winning rider Sonny Leon.

“This horse has run in Grade 1 and Grade 3 all over the place and comes back here and gets right back to business,” said winning trainer Uriah St. Lewis.

The hard-trying Wicked Warrior was second for Ricardo Feliciano at 4-5 odds, with 50-1 longshot To Win (Angel Diaz) getting up for third.

The post Forewarned Victorious In Best of Ohio Endurance At Mahoning Valley appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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