Sonny Leon

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky. 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:...

The 2-year-old gelding Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) is the fastest horse in Iowa--maybe the fastest horse ever to come out of the Hawkeye State--and has won his five career starters by a combined 59 3/4 lengths. But does that make him good enough to win a Breeders' Cup race? The Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland was his co-owner and trainer Tim Martin, and when the big event rolls around, he'll be going into the race with confidence. "For me, it's...

The Churchill Downs stewards have suspended jockey Sonny Leon 15 days for his controversial ride on second-place finisher Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in Saturday's GII Lukas Classic S. 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 Week in Review, by Bill Finley 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...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Trainer Eric Reed is looking back and ahead as he prepares GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) for the GI Runhappy Travers S. 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....

Sonny Leon, the winning rider aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby, is about to relocate to Gulfstream Park. He is listed to ride six horses on the Saturday card, including Easy Come Easy Go (Midnight Storm) in the $75,000 Azalea S. 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...

It was back to business as ususal for jockey Sonny Leon on Friday afternoon as he returned to Belterra Park six days after his ride of a lifetime aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in an unforgettable edition of the GI Kentucky Derby. 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...

It was an improbable outcome. No, make that an impossible outcome. But it happened. An 80-1 shot named Rich Strike (Keen Ice), who probably should have been 800-1, won the GI Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs. 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...

The 2020-21 racing season at Hollywood Gaming Mahoning Valley Race Course came to a record-setting close last Saturday. The 2020-2021 season concluded with an average handle per race of $121,770, a 4.43% increase in average handle per race over the 2019-2020 racing season. During the 2021 Winter/Spring meet portion of the racing season, average handle per race came in at $131,411 with the wagering highlight coming Mar. 29. In a mandatory payout of the Buckeye Jackpot Pick 6, which had grown to $343,876, the single day handle record was shattered...