Sonny Leon, the jockey no one had heard of, rides a Kentucky Derby no one will forget

Before 80-1 long shot Rich Strike broke last from the gate in the 148th Kentucky Derby, his rider, Venezuela native Sonny Leon, had such a light footprint in North American horse racing, he had never won a graded stakes race.

In the 2:02.61 it took to finish the 2022 Run for the Roses, Leon turned in a ride — equal parts patient and fabulously bold — that no one present at Churchill Downs on an overcast Saturday will ever forget.

Taking advantage of a suicidal early pace, Leon booted the late-charging Rich Strike from 15th at the 1-mile pole to a stunning three-quarters-of-a-length victory over favored Epicenter.

Leon’s masterful ride helped Rich Strike become the second-longest shot ever to win a Kentucky Derby. Only 1913 Derby winner, Donerail, who went off at 91-1, has ever won the roses at a longer price than Rich Strike did.

“People kept asking me if I was nervous to ride in my first Kentucky Derby,” Leon said afterward in a joyous news conference. “I said, ‘No, I wasn’t nervous. I was excited.’ I was on an 80-1 shot and nobody knew my horse — but I did. I didn’t know if we could win, but I had a good feeling with him.”

Said Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed: “We passed ’em all. What a ride by Sonny.”

Starting from the outside post after making the race as an also-eligible, Rich Strike broke last in the field of 20. Leon quickly guided his mount toward the rail, saving ground.

As Summer Is Tomorrow set suicidal early fractions of 21.78 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 45.36 seconds for the first half-mile, Leon and Rich Strike bided their time patiently near the rear of the Derby cavalry charge.

Rich Strike was 17th at the quarter pole, had fallen to 18th at the half-mile mark and was still ahead of only two horses three-quarters of a mile into the race.

However, the withering fractions had set the race up for a closer — and when Leon asked Rich Strike to go, the horse exploded.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, I’ve got some horse,” Leon said.

At the top of the stretch, Leon swung the hard-charging Rich Strike toward the rail, taking the “Calvin “Bo-Rail” path that Churchill Downs jockey ace Calvin Borel traveled to Derby victories in 2007 (Street Sense), 2009 (Mine That Bird) and 2010 (Super Saver).

“I waited,” Leon said, “and the rail opened up.”

However, just as Rich Strike was barreling down the inside toward the front, he ran up on a tiring Messier.

In the move that won the race, Leon swung Rich Strike outside Messier — and had enough horse to plow right on past Louisiana Derby winner Epicenter and Blue Grass Stakes victor Zandon to win North America’s most prestigious horse race.

“How much courage did our jockey have?” asked Rick Dawson, whose RED TR-Racing owns Rich Strike. “He had as much courage as our horse, and that was a lot.”

Leon had ridden Rich Strike in the four races that immediately preceded the Derby.

“He helped me train this horse,” said Reed, Rich Strike’s trainer. “This rider has ridden him all along. (Rich Strike) learned the process and (Leon) taught him how to ride through horses and pass horses.”

That is why, both Reed and Dawson said, when they decided they had Kentucky Derby aspirations for Rich Strike, they decided they would stay with Leon instead of looking for a bigger name.

Before Saturday’s tour de force, Leon’s greatest achievement as a rider may have been his back-to-back wins in the Best of Ohio Endurance race on Forewarned.

Leon has been a regular rider far from horse racing’s brightest lights at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Youngstown, Ohio. He does win races, having won 226 in 2021 out of a whopping 1,125 starts.

Reed pointed out that the jockeys who are the biggest stars in the sport “all were where Sonny Leon has been at some point (in their careers). He’s a family man, has been content to stay where he is — where he wins.”

On Saturday, Leon beat a field that included Hall of Fame riders Mike Smith and John Velazquez, as well as stars of the moment such as Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat, Luis Saez and Joel Rosario.

“Those kind of riders get the best horses, ride for the big stables,” Reed said. “Sonny hasn’t gotten that chance.”

After a Kentucky Derby ride for the ages, that might change.

Leon was asked what he thought his vintage showing with Rich Strike would mean for his career.

“I want to enjoy this moment,” Sonny Leon said. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 9:30 PM.

Mark Story

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Mark Story has worked in the Lexington Herald-Leader sports department since Aug. 27, 1990, and has been a Herald-Leader sports columnist since 2001. I have covered every Kentucky-Louisville football game since 1994, every UK-U of L basketball game but three since 1996-97 and every Kentucky Derby since 1994. Support my work with a digital subscription