Richardson to replace retiring Lehr as Churchill super

David Lehr has been a member of the Churchill Downs family since 1972 (Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs) Track Superintendent David Lehr will retire from that Churchill Downs post at the end of May, concluding a career that spanned more than 43 years with the track. Lehr will be succeeded by Assistant Track Superintendent James “Jamie” Richardson, who will become just the fifth person in 104 years of Churchill Downs history to hold that job when he assumes his new duties in June. The departure of 61-year-old Lehr, who has held the post of track superintendent since 2012, means that Churchill Downs will not have a member of the Lehr family on its track maintenance team for the first time in 48 years. David Lehr joined Churchill Downs in 1972 and succeeded his older brother, Raymond “Butch” Lehr, as track superintendent upon his brother’s retirement. Butch Lehr had joined Churchill Downs in 1967 and assumed the duties of track superintendent in 1982. Lehr’s retirement date is scheduled for May 31, and Richardson will begin work in his new post the following day.

Lehr joined the Churchill Downs staff two days after his graduation from
Louisville’s DuPont Manual High School in 1972 and, with the exception a stint
in the Army in 1973-74, has worked beneath the track’s venerable Twin Spires
since then. Even during his military duty, he came home to work with the track
crew for the 100th Kentucky Derby in 1974.

Lehr became part of the track maintenance team upon his 1972 arrival at the
track, and later served as Director of Operations at Trackside Training Center,
which has a six-furlong training track and stabling facilities and is located
about five miles from Churchill Downs, from 1994 through May 2005. After his
service at Trackside, Lehr returned to Churchill Downs and served as assistant
track superintendent until he was named to the department’s top post in 2012.

“Churchill Downs has been an important part of my life and the lives of
members of my family as long as any of us can remember, so my decision to retire
after 43 years is somewhat bittersweet,” Lehr said. “The decision is, however,
the right thing for me and my family, and I’m looking forward to the next step
in my life. We have always tried to do things the right way in taking care of
our dirt and turf courses, and we’ve been on the lookout for new practices and
technology to keep those tracks safe and fair. I’m very proud of our
accomplishments and the growth of Churchill Downs racing during my career, and I
wish Jamie Richardson the best in this very special job.”

As only the fifth person to hold the post of track superintendent at
141-year-old racing and sports icon, Richardson follows Tom Young, who was
appointed as the track’s first track superintendent by legendary General Manager
and President Col. Matt Winn in 1911 and held the job for the next 50 years;
Thurman Pangburn, who succeeded Young in 1962 and held the post until his
retirement in 1981, and the Lehr brothers.

In Richardson, Churchill Downs will have a new track superintendent who has
served in the number two position on its track team since 2012 and a veteran of
Triple Crown events. Along with the two Kentucky Derbys he has worked at
Churchill Downs, Richardson served as track superintendent for the Maryland
Jockey Club from 1989-2008. The MJC’s tracks includes Pimlico, the home of the
Preakness.

Richardson, a 46 year-old native of Jarrettsville, Maryland, also served as
track superintendent at Oaklawn Park for two years before he joined Churchill
Downs.

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