Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt – of Sagamore Farm and Pimlico fame – and John Hay Whitney will enter racing’s Hall of Fame as Pillars of the Turf.
We sat down with two new members of racing’s Hall of Fame: King Leatherbury and Xtra Heat’s co-owner Ken Taylor. We turned the camera on and let ’em roll.
How Xtra Heat went from ignored to beloved to an Eclipse winner to a Hall of Famer is, says trainer John Salzman, Sr., “a good story from the ground up.”
King Leatherbury has earned the admiration of the mid-Atlantic racing community, won 6,400 races, and done it with modest stock. Next stop: the Hall of Fame.
A pair of Maryland legends — trainer King Leatherbury and fleet filly Xtra Heat — have been named to the national racing Hall of Fame.
Some of our favorite photos of Hall of Fame finalist King Leatherbury and a horse who had a hand in that, Ben’s Cat.
All it took for King Leatherbury to become a Hall of Fame finalist was 56 years and 6,400 wins. He doesn’t think that’s enough – but other trainers disagree.
For the first time, Maryland-based trainer King Leatherbury is among 10 finalists for the Hall of Fame. Also on the ballot: popular sprinter Xtra Heat.
Gallorette, the Maryland-bred filly who regularly defeated the best boys in her Hall of Fame career, will have a hoofprint on Saratoga’s Walk of Fame.
“I’m still doing what I love every day,” says trainer King Leatherbury. That includes readying Ben’s Cat for possible fifth Mister Diz win.