Owner Donald Blahut dies

Donald Blahut, who owned such stakes winners as Caracortado, Kelly Leak, and Southern Image, died Monday after an illness, according to trainer Mike Machowsky.

Blahut was in hospice care at the time of his death. He was 86.

Born in Emporia, Kan., Blahut owned a Los Angeles-based bookbinding business.

As a racehorse owner, Blahut often had horses in partnerships. Southern Image won 6 of 8 starts and earned $1,843,750 in a career highlighted by wins in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2003 and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2004.

Caracortado was a multiple stakes winner who won races such as the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes in 2010 and the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf in 2011. Caracortado was seventh in the 2010 Preakness.

Kelly Leak won the $900,000 Sunland Derby in New Mexico in 2009 for a partnership that included Blahut.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Pacific on July 2 at Saint Euphrasia Catholic Church in Granada Hills, Calif.