Leatherbury steals show at Hall of Fame ceremony

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If this training thing doesn’t work out for King T. Leatherbury, maybe stand-up comedy will.

Leatherbury, 82, a winner of more than 6,400 U.S. races, the fourth-most all time, was inducted Friday into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and between two rousing standing ovations, he delivered a 10-minute string of jokes that had the audience roaring. Typically for the trainer, most were self-deprecating, and atypically for a man who has spent his entire life at or near a racetrack, hardly any of them had anything to do with racing.

Here’s Leatherbury shortly after recounting the first win of his career at Sunshine Park on the west coast of Florida: “I learned a couple of things about Florida down there. For one, on the East Coast is where all the old people live. On the west coast is where their parents live.”

Tom Durkin, the emcee of the ceremony, took the microphone after Leatherbury finished to bring the event to an end.

“Now you know why we put King last,” Durkin said. “No one’s going to follow that act.”

Leatherbury was one of four contemporary racing stars to be inducted into the Hall of Fame during the ceremony, which took place Friday morning in the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion near Saratoga Race Course, a furlong or so from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The other inductees were the late jockey Chris Antley, the racemare Xtra Heat, and the claimer turned stakes winner Lava Man.

Humor ruled the day as well in the induction of Xtra Heat, the brilliantly quick and game filly who won 26 of 35 races over her career. Harry Deitchman, one of the filly’s co-owners, began his speech by noting that the filly’s other owner, Ken Taylor, was far more visible during the filly’s career, leading his grandchildren to ask him why Taylor always got to “make a speech” after her often-thrilling wins.

Deitchman said he told his grandchildren at the end of Xtra Heat’s career, “The next time something big comes up, I’m the one who’s going to make a speech.”

He then unfurled a sheet of paper in his hand that stretched at least 10 feet. After the crowd finished laughing, he clipped all but the top 10 inches from the paper and gave brief remarks, thanking the Hall of Fame and the filly’s connections.

Taylor did the same, thanking all those connected to Xtra Heat, especially trainer John Salzman. He closed his comments with a shout: “The Heat is sweet!”

Lava Man’s induction was accepted by Steve Kenly, who was part of the partnership that claimed the gelding as a 3-year-old for $50,000. Trained by Doug O’Neill, Lava Man went on to win seven Grade 1 races, including three consecutive editions of the Hollywood Gold Cup from 2005-07 and back-to-back runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap in 2006-07 while becoming a fan favorite on the California circuit.

Kenly said his father took him to Hollywood Park as a child, and he always marveled at the granite wall at the entrance that listed all the winners of the Hollywood Gold Cup, one of the biggest races on the West Coast until the track was closed at the end of 2013.

“I was in awe seeing those names,” Kenly said. “Then, to own a horse that runs in that race, let alone wins it three times, it was surreal.”

Kenly also noted the privileged backgrounds of two previous inductees during the ceremony, the Pillars of the Turf John Hay Whitney and Alfred G. Vanderbilt, contrasting them with Lava Man’s plebeian roots.

“We had the blue bloods earlier today, so I guess he was the blue collar,” Kenly said. “He was the people’s horse.”

While the ceremony was largely lighthearted, it also had its poignant moments as Antley’s mentor, mother, and widow each delivered brief, heartfelt comments. They thanked the Hall of Fame and racing fans for inducting the jockey, whose brilliant but troubled career was cut short when he was found dead in his apartment Dec. 2, 2000. The death was ruled a drug overdose.

Natalie Jowett Antley, his widow, thanked the audience for providing the Antley family with a “very profound healing opportunity.” She gave birth shortly after Antley died.

“Chris performed feats that may never be achieved again, but just as intensely, his actions off the track hit some depths that often became tragic,” she said. “So, I want to talk about that polarity. Fear leads us down to a place where we judge, where we’re angry, where we want to separate ourselves. Love allows us to open ourselves to where we can find joy and acceptance.”

Just as enthusiastically as they greeted Leatherbury’s jokes, the crowd stood and cheered.