This Rich Strike story IS too good to be true. It never should've happened.

Much has been made of the storied trip down Churchill Downs of 80-1 mega-longshot Rich Strike and jockey Sonny Leon.

I think it is now clear that Kentucky racing authorities need a look at that run (and, probably more likely, whether Leon was, in fact, legal to ride anyway).

Leon was under investigation in Ohio for reckless racing in an April 27th race at Thistledown Racecourse.  The suspension actually involves a shoving situation between Leon and another jockey in an allowance race.

If this were the only situation, it'd be one thing.  Rules in Ohio, according to Tim Sullivan of the Louisville Courier Journal, would allow Leon to race in "designated races" such as the Kentucky Derby if the suspension in Ohio was not for longer than ten days.  Leon was originally suspended eight, halved to four once he did not appeal.

This is Leon's FIFTH suspension since September 15th, a newspaper investigation has revealed to Yahoo!  Three for reckless racing, one for false and altered documents, and a fifth for abuse of the horse with a whip.  

Since September 15, a span, leading to the Derby, of just under eight months, Sonny Leon has been (counting these four he's serving this week) suspended for 32 days. 

According to Jeff Perrin, Leon's agent, he IS eligible to race at the Preakness should Rich Strike elect to do so.

I think some people (myself included) are going to have to see if there's any way we can make sure this does not happen.

According to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's licensing form:

• Leon would've been forced to reveal the other four suspensions as being "ruled off, ejected, or excluded from association racing grounds".
• As well as probably several fines he's received.

He will also have to reveal all five suspensions to the Maryland Racing Commission, per their licensing form. 

I think there are a couple of very prescient questions:

• Where is Mr. Leon currently licensed?
• And are we at the point that jockey suspensions are so common that five suspensions in less than an eight-month period (including one for falsification of documentation and another for whip abuse of the horse) does not even get a review toward revocation of his license, no matter what state he is licensed or is racing???

It almost-certainly will not happen, but Rich Strike needs to be disqualified.  Sonny Leon should never have been allowed at Churchill Downs - not for the one suspension, but for the aggregating record he's building up. 

Yeah, I actually have e-mailed the Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the Maryland Racing Commission with a link to the Yahoo! article -- let's see if I can do a little better with them than I did the former heads of the Arena Football League and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.   

UPDATE 1:20 PM PDT 5/12/22:  For whatever reason (and, yes, it was discussed that the Triple Crown itself was too injurious to the horse), I guess the Maryland part of this was probably unnecessary:  Rich Strike has opted to run the Belmont instead of the Preakness.