King Leatherbury is the not the kind of thoroughbred trainer who spends hours examining the legs of the horses under his care.
He's not like many of peers, who ride a pony on the track in the morning to watch their horses train. In fact, he hasn't been on horseback in almost 50 years.
But Washington Post columnist Andrew Beyer writes that Leatherbury was worthy of his induction on Friday into the Naitonal Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame Friday in Saratoga Springs. N.Y
"To this day he does most of his work as a trainer in his home office, not at the track nor in the vicinity of his horses. He'll go to his barn at Laurel perhaps twice a week -- 'just to show up and let the help know I'm paying attention.' He is dismissive of the traditional horsemen who lean over a rail with a stopwatch in their hands as they watch a workout intently, or who walk through the barn feeling the legs of every horse."
Leatherbury: "That's all a lot of bull. I don't try to diagnose physical problems; I have professional vets for that."
Leatherbury's hands-off-the-hooves approach has worked so well he ranks fourth on thoroughbred racing's all-time victory list with 6,458, but with nary a victory in a race anyone outside of Maryland, his home base, would care about.
"I never had a super horse," said Leatherbury, 82. "I had to work with what I had. Nobody came to me and said, "Here's a barn full of stakes horses."
Mike Klingaman of the Baltimore Sun wrote that it is the "sport, not the steed that stirs Leatherbury, an inveterate gambler."
Leatherbury said horses are fantastic animals.
"I appreciate them," he told the Sun, "but I also appreciate dogs and cats. It's the game that's the challenge."
Donnie Miller, a jockey who rode for Leatherbury in the 1980s, told a story that provides insight into Leatherbury.
"Mario Pino and I were both riding for King in the same race," Miller said. "In the paddock, he put his arms over both of our shoulders and said, 'Guys, do the best you can but stay out of each other's way. Now, I'm going off to bet the Pick 6.' "
Now, that's the kind of guy a $2 bettor can appreciate and love and it's the reason he has no plans to stop anytime soon.
"Quit? What would I do?" he said. "I don't like the water, I don't want a damn boat, and golf takes too long to get good at. If I keep handicapping horses, I figure I won't get Alzheimer's."
They said it ...
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• From TheOnion.com, on the weak points in women's MMA superstar Ronda Rousey's resume: "Has fewer than five minutes of fighting experience in UFC."
• From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "If the Treasury Department wants to replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with a woman, why not Ronda Rousey? She'd certainly be good for breaking a twenty."
SPORTS QUIZ
King Leatherbury is the fourth-winningest thoroughbred trainer of all time. How many of those victories have come in either Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup races?
ANSWER
Zero.
Sports on 08/10/2015