The Canadian racing community was in a state of shock last week when news emerged of the tragic death of seven-time Sovereign Award winner Todd Kabel.
One of the winningmost jockeys in the history of racing in Canada, Kabel was reportedly found dead in a park where he had been sleeping rough in Tottenham, Ontario, on Saturday March 27. He was 55.,
As aggressive as they come in the saddle, Manitoba-born Kabel was a divisive figure, as controversial as he was successful. A gifted rider known for his confidence, he was also a troubled individual who struggled with depression, a lifelong battle against the scales and dependence on drink and drugs. His charge sheet included a jail term for assault.
Nevertheless, when he was good, he was very good indeed. Described as an “all-time great” by Canada’s Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer Mark Frostad, Kabel dominated the Woodbine standings for a long period, riding more than 100 winners for 20 consecutive seasons.
His total of 3,306 victories (Thoroughbreds only) included a pair of wins in the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s signature Classic, with Regal Discovery (1995) and Scatter The Gold (2000), who won the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown before going down on turf in the Breeders’ Stakes.
In an illustrious career, Kabel won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s Outstanding Jockey six times (1992, 1995 and 2003-2006) to add to his champion apprentice award from 1986.
Among those to pay tribute to Kabel was the great Sandy Hawley, the Canadian legend who is a member of the U.S. Hall of Fame. “Todd was a great rider and quite a character,” tweeted Hawley, who rode more than 6,000 career winners and won the Eclipse Award as U.S. champion jockey in 1976.
“Probably the biggest prankster in jockey’s room during his career. We will miss him. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends, R.I.P. Todd.”
A native of McCreary, Manitoba, Kabel started his riding career at his local track Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, before moving to the brighter lights of the Toronto circuit in the mid-80s. He went on to win numerous riding titles at Woodbine and now-defunct Greenwood in the 1990s and early 2000s, making a superficially seamless-looking transition from top ‘bugboy’ to journeyman.
Charismatic individual
According to those who knew him, Kabel was a charismatic individual – confident and playful on his good days, albeit even those were seldom far from controversy throughout his career. “With his good looks and playful nature, Kabel was a well-known personality at Woodbine,” writes leading Canadian racing journalist Jennifer Morrison in a detailed obituary for Canadian Thoroughbred. “He was also controversial as he had a similarly aggressive style of riding, in particular with the whip, as the great Sandy Hawley.
“While the whip rules at that time were nothing like they are today, Kabel often found himself at odds with the Ontario Racing Commission stewards for his use of the whip.”
The Daily Racing Form also mentions the personal demons that were to derail him later in life, saying: “Kabel was an excellent judge of pace and a strong finisher, with his patented left-handed whip. He didn’t mince words, and his candid comments were often a reporter’s dream. He dealt with alcohol issues, and spent some time in jail for assault.”
Despite his serial misdemeanours, the winners kept on coming before and after the turn of the century. In 2003, Kabel became the first Canadian jockey to win more than $10 million in a single season; the following year he equalled the stakes record of 36 such victories.
‘A demon he could not shake’
With the exception of the Canadian International, he won nearly all Woodbine’s major races, including the EP Taylor (Fly For Avie 2000), Woodbine Mile (Soaring Free 2004) and the Northern Dancer Turf, which he won four times in five years in the early noughties (Full Of Wonder 2002, Strut The Stage 2003-04, Sky Conqueror 2006). In 1997, he partnered a 78/1 shot to finish second to Favorite Trick in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Hollywood Park.
Yet career-long weight issues were to exact a heavy price, as Jennifer Morrison recounts. “Years of Lasix, ‘water’ pills, saunas and flipping any food he ate took a toll on his body,” she says. “At one point, his aesophagus became so badly damaged from flipping he walked away from riding in 2009. His personal battle with alcohol and drugs, taken to alleviate depression, was a demon Kabel could not shake.”
Deaths in the family, a broken marriage and yes, his own objectionable behaviour can hardly have helped matters. But, after a two-year hiatus back in Winnipeg to spend time with his family – he had four children, Kabel returned to race-riding in 2012 seemingly determined to regain his stature in the Woodbine jocks’ room.
It didn’t work out, as a trail of DUIs (driving under the influence) and allegations of alcohol-related violence dogged him. His career ended in 2013, and, while he continued to work with horses, the Ontario Racing Commission had had enough and refused ever to licence him again, even as an exercise rider. Such a hardline outlook was understandable: As his life spiralled, he compiled a charge sheet as long as your arm. For example, in 2014, he drove drunk, beat up his girlfriend and was jailed, having been ordered by court to surrender weapons, including a 12-gauge shotgun. He also broke the ribs of former jockey Frank Todd.
Sleeping rough
Years later, the final days of the man who was once the leading rider at one of North America’s foremost venues reportedly ended with him sleeping rough in the park where his body was found.
“I appreciate that he did have troubles away from the track, but at the same time ... he was just a good Manitoba kid,” said Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson.
“He was very polite and very respectful and I’ll always have good memories of the type of person he was,” added Lawson told the Toronto Sun.
“He was just a phenomenal talent – he had such a great sense of pace, he could time it. He was light on a horse. He had light hands, he moved in unison with the horse, he was just a real talent as a jockey and that's a special thing.”