Sondra Bender dies at age 78

Last updated: 2/23/12 1:49 PM

Sondra Bender, along with her husband, Howard, was a staple on the Maryland racing circuit
(Maryland Jockey Club/Jim McCue)

The Maryland racing community lost one of its most prominent members
when owner and breeder Sondra Bender passed away Wednesday afternoon
after a battle with uterine cancer. She was 78 years old.

A resident of Bethesda, Sondra and her husband, Howard, owned Glade
Valley Farm near Frederick, Maryland.

“I considered her the first lady of Maryland racing,” said Larry
Murray, who has trained for Bender since 1988 and is the farm manager at
Glade Valley. “She enjoyed the game and was very classy. She took the
bad just as well as the good. They enjoyed it together. It was very rare
to see them apart. I hope Mr. Bender can find some solace in the races
without her.”

The Benders owned two horses who competed in Triple Crown races.
Southern Appeal finished 13th in the 1986 Kentucky Derby, while Foufa’s
Warrior was seventh in the 2003 Preakness Stakes.

Bender is all over the Maryland Million record books. She is tied
atop the owner rankings with five victories and has bred four winners.

La Reine’s Terms had two of those Maryland Million scores and was the
stable’s most successful runner. The son of Private Terms, who was bred by
Bender in 1995, won 11 stakes races including five in 2002 on five different
turf courses. La Reine’s Terms retired with $804,591 in earnings after a score
in the 2005 Maryland Million Turf at the age of 10, off a year layoff.

“I am thinking about all the good times we had,” added Murray, who has won
488 races worth more than $14 million for the family. “We had some horses that
took us a lot of places and gave us a lot of thrills. La Reine’s Terms went to
Texas and won (the 2002 NTRA Great State Challenge Invitational Turf at Sam
Houston). She will be sorely missed and I have great memories of her. I will
cherish those.”

The 2002 season was Bender’s best when she captured 13 stakes races with
seven different horses and finished 53rd on the North American money list with
$1.3 million. She bred nine stakes winners that year, including seven who
competed in her familiar gold and black colors.

Bender and Murray combined to win seven stakes races at Pimlico and Laurel
Park in 2003 and bred six stakes winners, including five that ran in the Bender
colors.

Some of her other favorite horses were Don’s Choice (second in the 1985 Grade
2 Jim Dandy), Secret Odds (second in the 1992 Grade 1 Champagne), Grade 2
victress Promenade Girl and Grade 3 scorer King’s Nest.

The Bender-owned Indian Dance competed in last weekend’s John B. Campbell
Handicap at Laurel Park, finishing fifth, and Reckless Runner was entered to run
in Thursday’s 4TH race for the barn.

A memorial service will be held at Beth El Synagogue in Bethesda at 10 a.m.
(EST) Friday morning.