Two-time Queen's Plate-winning jockey Todd Kabel has died. He was 55.
Kabel rode his first Queen's Plate winner, the Roger Attfield-trained Regal Discovery, in 1995 and in 2000 scored his second Queen's Plate aboard Sam-Son Farm homebred Scatter the Gold.
"He was just a phenomenal talent," Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson told the Toronto Sun. "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."
From 1984-2013, Kabel won 3,306 races and his mounts earned $105,831,055, according to Equibase statistics. He earned the Sovereign Award for outstanding apprentice jockey in 1986, which was followed by six Sovereign Awards for outstanding jockey in 1992, 1995, and 2003-06.
Kabel piloted 78-1 shot Dawson's Legacy to a runner-up finish in the 1997 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) behind Favorite Trick, later named that season's Horse of the Year, at Hollywood Park. He won a slew of important graded stakes wins at Woodbine, including the Atto Mile (G1T) with Soaring Free, Dominion Day Handicap (G3) with Mobil, Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf (G2T) with Sky Conqueror, Nassau (G2T) with Strike Softly, and Selene Stakes (G2) with Eye of the Sphynx, among others.
