Hall of Fame horseman King Leatherbury dies at age 92
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King Leatherbury, the Hall of Fame trainer who rose to prominence in the 1970s and dominated Maryland racing for three decades, died at his home on Tuesday. He was 92.
In a training career that spanned 64 years and 36,256 starts, Leatherbury won 6,508 races, the fifth most in the history of North American racing. His horses scored 154 stakes victories, won 23 graded stakes, and $64.6 million in purse money.
“If I wanted something on my tombstone,” Leatherbury told America’s Best Racing in 2024, “it would just be, ‘He won races.’ ”
Leatherbury, a former president of the Maryland Horse Breeders’ Association and Maryland Million Ltd., won his first race at Sunshine Park, now known as Tampa Bay Downs, in 1959. He spent his early years finding his footing in the industry, going as far as Scarborough Downs in Maine to find races along the East Coast.
In the 1970s, Leatherbury established himself as one of the “Big Four” in Maryland, an elite group of trainers that also included Bud Delp, Rick Dutrow Sr., and John Tammaro. He once credited his rivalry with Delp as the thing that motivated him to focus on the trainer standings. It proved to be an immensely successful shift in perspective.
Between 1972 and 1997, Leatherbury did not go a single year without at least 100 victories. Within that streak, he also earned 200 victories in 11 straight seasons between 1974 and 1984.
An unstoppable force in his home state, he won 52 training titles at Laurel Park and Pimlico, 26 at each track. He also won four meet championships at Delaware Park. His best horses during this period included Grade 1 winners Catatonic and Taking Risks, as well as graded stakes winners Thirty Eight Go Go and I Am The Game.
Leatherbury is partially credited with bringing the sport into the modern age. He was one of the first trainers to use speed figures and other statistics in low-level races, using them to devastating effect in the local ranks.
Andy Beyer, creator of the Beyer Speed Figures, was on hand during Leatherbury’s heyday while covering Maryland racing as a journalist.
“King Leatherbury was the first trainer I knew to be serious about handicapping,” Beyer said Tuesday. “He discovered his love of betting when he was an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, and when he started to train a small string of cheap horses, he applied lessons he had learned as a horseplayer.
“Instead of managing his horses conservatively, he told me in the 1980s, ‘I wanted to claim one, win with him, lose him, claim another one.' "
Leatherbury remained a key presence in Maryland well into the 21st century. Beginning in 2005, he won back-to-back runnings of the Federico Tesio Stakes with Malibu Moonshine and Ah Day. Somehow, his highest-earning horse was still yet to come.
After decades managing one of the largest barns in Maryland, Leatherbury had just over a dozen horses in training when Ben’s Cat made his debut in 2010. The gelding went on to become one of the best Maryland-breds in modern history, running until 2017 and winning 32 races in 63 starts. He won 26 stakes and earned more than $2.6 million.
Ben’s Cat ushered in an incredible era late in Leatherbury’s career, in which he and his iron horse earned national attention while taking the Mid-Atlantic region by storm. The trainer used to say he had enough trophies to go around, but late in his career, the honors became more prestigious and unique. In 2015, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame, in recognition of his longstanding career in Maryland and enduring success in contemporary racing.
During his time with Ben’s Cat, Leatherbury helped to nurture one of the strongest followings in the sport.
Ben's Cat, following his sudden passing in July 2017, received the Secretariat Vox Populi Award, an award determined by public voting and given to the “horse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the American public and gained recognition for the sport during the year.” The Vox Populi had previously been given to Zenyatta, American Pharoah, and California Chrome, but Ben’s Cat’s victory received record-breaking voter participation.
Leatherbury is survived by his wife, Linda Marie Heavener Leatherbury, twin sons Taylor and Todd, and grandson, Heavener.
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