Less than two weeks after riding longshot Rich Strike to a shocking victory in the Kentucky Derby, jockey Sonny Leon visited JerZee’s Pub & Grill on Monmouth Street in Newport Wednesday to meet fans and sign autographs.
The event raised money for charity benefitting racetrack workers.
Leon, who rode Rich Strike at 80-to-1 odds, charged $5 per autographed photo. Proceeds went to a charity named for for the late Father Frank Neihaus, a fixture at tracks like Turfway Park and River Downs, now known as Belterra Park. He passed away in 2013.
Father Frank’s Backstretch Workers is a ministry devoted to helping racetrack workers.
Backstretch workers are people such as trainers, exercise riders, jockeys, grooms, farriers, and muckers who work in the “backstretch” area of a racetrack.
Leon said he was helping raise funds to support the legacy of Neihaus.
Neihaus was locally known for holding mass in the River Downs grandstand every Sunday until the facility was demolished in 2013.
“It’s rewarding. I get a lot of satisfaction helping out,” Niehaus told the Los Angeles Times in 2003. “I like to think the Lord has blessed me.”
Goods like food, clothing, toiletries, and toys for children are distributed annually by Father Frank’s Backstretch Workers. The charity also holds cookouts, Sunday mass and Christmas parties for backstretch workers.
