I could ramble on about King T. Leatherbury but I'm not going to. King wouldn't have wanted that. He got to the point. He was really funny. Laughed at himself when he messed up. A really good guy. So I'll tell a story or two. He would have liked that.
I spent probably 5-10 years trying to " figure him out" in my first years training. I looked to figure out all the trainers. Especially the claiming trainers because that is what I did. Most were easy. Some were tricky. But I would eventually understood through watching how they train, and how they place horses, how their horses looked from race to race, warmed up, pulled up, etc. and how everything fit their particular circumstances. That is how I was taught.
There was only one that I could never pin down. That was King T. You see, trainers are all about repetition. They have a system and most try and stick with it. Some of them do this, or some of them do that. Not hard to analyze if you know what to look for. But there was one trainer who I never was able to totally figure out. That was King.
Decades after I walked away from the game, I went back to a once a year horseman's reunion. I saw all my old friends. While there, I sat down with King and talked with him. He was glad to see me, and I, him .
I had known him well along with his wife and twin sons before I left the game. He welcomed me like a long lost friend. I explained to him about how I analyzed all the trainers in Md. and how he was always, the only trainer I could never figure out. And he solved any questions about analysis out in one minute. He said that he never had any pattern. He just trained them and tried to win with them. He didn't wait because of a bad workout, or bad post, or tough setup. He just trained them, ran them, reevaluated there numbers, figures, whatever, and ran them back. That was it. His morning routine was ridiculous. He was not there to witness it, but it was unbelievably shoddy. Everything about his barn seemed to be a joke. His grooms brought the wrong horse to the paddock to race at least once a year and typically more than that. No working on the legs . No braiding the manes. No flashy looks. Just lead em over and watch them run. Reassess, and run them back.
King was a numbers guy. He used the sheets from the very beginning. Ragozin was one of his owners. So while most all trainers were analyzing their horse after each race, watching to see if they ate, their coat, how they trained, etc. King went solely on numbers and statistics. He was one of a kind. Trainers did not know what to make of him in the late 60's and into the 70's. And most, like me, never fully understood what he was doing. King never cheated. Absurd to think he did. I still get a kick out of who people think cheated and who did not back then. In Md. , I knew everything about every trainer that there was to know. Strengths and weaknesses. Again, how I was taught to a degree and the level I took it to when I was there.
King was so frustrating to run against. I think I went head and head with him for a training title 4-5 times over the years. I never beat him when head and head going into the last week . I was 2 wins in front going into the last day of a Timonium meet. Had just one horse in. He had six or seven. Mine was in like the 3rd race? and he was in that race as well. He won the 1st race, then beat me in the 3rd race which tied us. I didn't have to wait long as he won the 4th and that was that. So I left, and he won a couple more after that. Pretty sure he won 5 that day. Hahaha.
Once winter at LAUREL , he beat me out but I won the first percentage award for best win % of the meet. He got a silver cup and I got a check for 1,000.00. We were in the winners circle together with Frank DeFrancis presenting the awards and when King heard that he got a cup and I got 1,000.00 check, we started hollering "Well, Go to Hell" give him the damn cup and give me the check! Everyone was laughing. Even king was a little, but he kind of meant it.
That was King. Too me, one of the greatest trainers I ever saw. Not because of any horsemanship but because he was decades ahead of everyone else in his thought process. What a fabulous guy he was. I was lucky to get to know him. Rest In Peace my friend.
I spent probably 5-10 years trying to " figure him out" in my first years training. I looked to figure out all the trainers. Especially the claiming trainers because that is what I did. Most were easy. Some were tricky. But I would eventually understood through watching how they train, and how they place horses, how their horses looked from race to race, warmed up, pulled up, etc. and how everything fit their particular circumstances. That is how I was taught.
There was only one that I could never pin down. That was King T. You see, trainers are all about repetition. They have a system and most try and stick with it. Some of them do this, or some of them do that. Not hard to analyze if you know what to look for. But there was one trainer who I never was able to totally figure out. That was King.
Decades after I walked away from the game, I went back to a once a year horseman's reunion. I saw all my old friends. While there, I sat down with King and talked with him. He was glad to see me, and I, him .
I had known him well along with his wife and twin sons before I left the game. He welcomed me like a long lost friend. I explained to him about how I analyzed all the trainers in Md. and how he was always, the only trainer I could never figure out. And he solved any questions about analysis out in one minute. He said that he never had any pattern. He just trained them and tried to win with them. He didn't wait because of a bad workout, or bad post, or tough setup. He just trained them, ran them, reevaluated there numbers, figures, whatever, and ran them back. That was it. His morning routine was ridiculous. He was not there to witness it, but it was unbelievably shoddy. Everything about his barn seemed to be a joke. His grooms brought the wrong horse to the paddock to race at least once a year and typically more than that. No working on the legs . No braiding the manes. No flashy looks. Just lead em over and watch them run. Reassess, and run them back.
King was a numbers guy. He used the sheets from the very beginning. Ragozin was one of his owners. So while most all trainers were analyzing their horse after each race, watching to see if they ate, their coat, how they trained, etc. King went solely on numbers and statistics. He was one of a kind. Trainers did not know what to make of him in the late 60's and into the 70's. And most, like me, never fully understood what he was doing. King never cheated. Absurd to think he did. I still get a kick out of who people think cheated and who did not back then. In Md. , I knew everything about every trainer that there was to know. Strengths and weaknesses. Again, how I was taught to a degree and the level I took it to when I was there.
King was so frustrating to run against. I think I went head and head with him for a training title 4-5 times over the years. I never beat him when head and head going into the last week . I was 2 wins in front going into the last day of a Timonium meet. Had just one horse in. He had six or seven. Mine was in like the 3rd race? and he was in that race as well. He won the 1st race, then beat me in the 3rd race which tied us. I didn't have to wait long as he won the 4th and that was that. So I left, and he won a couple more after that. Pretty sure he won 5 that day. Hahaha.
Once winter at LAUREL , he beat me out but I won the first percentage award for best win % of the meet. He got a silver cup and I got a check for 1,000.00. We were in the winners circle together with Frank DeFrancis presenting the awards and when King heard that he got a cup and I got 1,000.00 check, we started hollering "Well, Go to Hell" give him the damn cup and give me the check! Everyone was laughing. Even king was a little, but he kind of meant it.
That was King. Too me, one of the greatest trainers I ever saw. Not because of any horsemanship but because he was decades ahead of everyone else in his thought process. What a fabulous guy he was. I was lucky to get to know him. Rest In Peace my friend.
