Former Midwest jockey Sensenbach dies at 58

Paul R. “Lee” Sensenbach Jr., a retired jockey in the Great Plains region, died Monday at age 58.

Sensenbach, a New Jersey native, graduated from Indian Hills High School in Oakland, N.J., in 1976, and then resided in Colorado and Kentucky. Sensenbach received training to become a jockey while in Kentucky, and then moved to Grand Island, Neb., home of Fonner Park, where he resided for the rest of his life.

He took his first recorded mounts in 1995, riding at meets around Nebraska, and earning one runner-up finish in 28 starts. Sensenbach returned to professional riding in 1999 after a three-year hiatus and earned his first parimutuel win on May 2 of that year aboard Selah at Fonner Park.

Sensenbach retired in early 2009 due to injury, finishing his career with 238 wins in 2,970 starts, with his mounts earning $1,591,465. He earned two stakes wins during time in the saddle, taking the 2004 Bill Callihan Handicap at Columbus aboard Missy Can Do and the 2007 Fonner Park Special Stakes aboard Plaer’s Trump.

He is survived by sisters Janie, Nancy, and Carolyn, along with several nieces and nephews

Services will be held Monday at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Island at 1 p.m. Central. Burial will be in Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.