Sandra Lepard had a deep passion for horse racing the breeding industry. A chartered account just like her husband Ken Lee, Lepard fell in love with racing growing up in Calgary. She has said that as a teenager she would seek out winning mutuel tickets on the floor of Stampede Park racetrack. something so many of us did.
An avid hunter rider, Lepard and Lee got involved in racehorse ownership and breeding some 25 years ago under the name of their Gold Medal Stable. Both Lepard and Lee had places as directors on the CTHS Manitoba board and have raced and bred dozens of good horses.
One of their huge success stories was the claim of the Rebellion mare BLURRICANE in 2015 for $25,000 from a race at Woodbine. Trained by their friend Martin Drexler, Blurricane became a stakes winner and earned over $500,000 before her recent retirement. They owner Blurricane with longtime horse partner Dennis Mitchell and Don and Gayle Bell.
Lepard and Lee also raced stakes winner Witch’s Coven (by Cuvee) in 2011 and that filly had a weanling sell for $180,000 (US) in 2016. The mare is the dam of current Woodbine 2-year-old winner Green Growth.
This year the couple and their partners have raced winners Brass Compass, Chiracahua Signal among others.
Dedicated, generous and keen on the Manitoba racing scene, Lepard often wrote the Manitoba CTHS news for Canadian Thoroughbred magazine and always sought out the best stories from that province. She will be dearly missed.
Sandra Lepard Formal Obituary:
After a life of grace, dignity and passion, Sandra Lepard was sadly taken from us on October 10, 2019.
Sandy was born in Calgary in 1954. After high school in Calgary, she graduated from the University of Lethbridge in 1979. In 1983, she became a Chartered Accountant, starting her career at Carpenter and Company in Lethbridge, specializing in income tax before coming to Winnipeg where she continued her career at Stefanson, Lee, Romaniuk.
Sandy will be missed by all those people she has touched with her outgoing personality, sense of humour, great smile and incredible intelligence which made her a brilliant accountant. However, she was much more than a numbers person. She took great pride in helping her clients, often becoming life long friends with some of them.
Beyond her successful profession, Sandy filled her life with the things she was most passionate about – friendships and animals. She was a director of the Manitoba Division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, volunteering in that role for 10 years. She also was active in the Manitoba Hunter Jumping Association while continuing to be active as a competitor. Her love for horses and this sport is exemplified by her 20-year friendship with Sly Drifter. She spent time with Sly everyday, sometimes riding or grooming, but often just hanging out at times. In addition, she was involved in racing and breeding thoroughbreds. Sandy also had a huge soft spot in her heart for her dogs – Brandy, Soda, Fizzle and now Quinn.
Sandra was a class act, defined by her quiet confidence and genuine caring for everyone. I will miss her.
She is survived by her husband Ken Lee and his daughter Jamie (Joel), in laws Dave (Peggy) with their children Kathryn and Lindsey, Norman (Michelle) and their children Lara, Rob and Nikki and her sister Jacki Kirk (Rob), her nephew Adam (Diane), cousins Faye Pugh (Ralph). Wayne Bonney, Pati Bolduc (Rick), Diane Barkley (John), Ken Christopher, and Kimberly Hitchner. Predeceased by parents Jack and Mary Christopher, and her aunts Dorothy Fox and Francis Anscombe and her uncle Roye Christopher.
A Celebration of Sandy’s life will be held at a date to be announced. If friends so desire, donations can be made in Sandy’s memory to Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter: 3062 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, R3K 0Y1.
More from People:
