Hall of Fame horse racing trainer King Leatherbury died Tuesday at age 92.
Leatherbury's son, Taylor, confirmed the news to the Maryland Jockey Club. He passed away at his home.
"He’s one of a kind," Taylor Leatherbury said. "There’s never been a man more appropriately named than my father."
"King Leatherbury can train any racehorse that ever lived"
Rob Carr/Getty Images
King Leatherbury won 6,508 races, the fifth-most in North America, during a legendary 64-year career. He racked up over $64 million in career earnings with 26 training titles each at Maryland's Pimlico and Laurel tracks.
“If I wanted something on my tombstone,” Leatherbury said in 2024, "it would just be, ‘He won races.'"
Leatherbury's most decorated horse, Ben’s Cat, won 32 of 63 starts from 2010 to 2017 and netted more than $2.6 million in earnings. Yet Leatherbury rose to prominence much earlier, leading all North American trainers in wins in 1977 and 1978.
"Nobody in the history of racing has done what he’s done the last 25 years," trainer Bud Delp told The Washington Post in 1993. "... Believe me, King Leatherbury can train any racehorse that ever lived, and train him to perfection."
Leatherbury joined Dale Baird and Jack Van Berg as the third trainer to reach 6,000 career wins before retiring in 2023.
"I don’t know how it happened,” Leatherbury said after achieving his 6,000th victory. "The wins just added up over the years. It is amazing to think that only two others in history have won more races. I am honored to be in their company."
The National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame inducted Leatherbury into the Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2002.
Our condolences go out to Leatherbury's loved ones for their loss.