Six Sovereign Awards as Canada’s Outstanding Jockey; four of those in consecutive years.
Two Queen’s Plate victories, 3,306 career winning rides, dozens of stakes races including 36 in one season, tying a record.
Todd Kabel dominated the Woodbine riding colony for the better part of the new century and won well over 100 races each season for 20 straight years. He was fearless, smart, aggressive and relentless in his pursuit of a victory.
It was all he ever wanted to do: ride races and win.
Sadly, Todd lost a life-long race against depression and alcoholism as he was found deceased in a park in Tottenham on March 27, 2021 at the age of 55.
The news of his passing shook the Woodbine community, so many of whom have plenty of good memories and fun stories about the McCreary, Manitoba-born Kabel. He came to Woodbine in the mid 1980s, rode his first horse in 1984 and was Canada’s Outstanding Apprentice in 1986. Not only did he succeed in making the very tough transition from bug rider to journeyman jockey, Kabel was in high demand from every top barn on the grounds.
With his good looks and playful nature, Kabel was a well-known personality at Woodbine. 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.
In 2003 he became the first Canadian-based jockey to earn more than $10 million in purses, and in 2004 he tied the record of 36 graded stakes race wins in a season set by the late Hall of Fame jockey, Avelino Gomez.
Among Kabel’s major wins he rode Regal Discovery to victory in the 1995 Queen’s Plate, the country’s most prestigious race and that was his big break. In 2000, aboard Scatter The Gold, he earned his second victory in the Queen’s Plate then won the Prince of Wales Stakes, both of which were run on dirt. However, Kabel and Scatter The Gold missed winning the Canadian Triple Crown when they finished third in the Breeders’ Stakes on turf.
He won all of the big races at Woodbine and rode in Breeders’ Cups in the U.S., finishing second on 78-to-1 shot Dawson’s Legacy in the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
He did all this despite having to lose many pounds each racing day. Years of Lasix, ‘water’ pills, saunas and flipping any food he ate took a toll on his body. At one point, his esophagus 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. When he left racing in 2009 he went home to Winnipeg to be with his four children and family members. He came back in 2012 and rode 29 winners but issues off the track including DUI’s and reports of violence while under the influence would eventually lead to his final season of riding in 2013.
In the eight years since then, Kabel has continued to work with horses on farms and stay in touch with many friends in the Woodbine community. He had support but for anyone who knew him, Kabel was proud, oftentimes hard-headed and he did not seek the necessary help to address his depression. His depression became worse in recent years when he tried, on many occasions, to get licensed again by the Ontario Racing Commission to work horses at Woodbine but he was always turned away. Short stints in and out of jail led the racing stewards to be firm on their decision.
But for those who knew Kabel best they were often treated to a fun and silly prankster who was kind and generous with his time. He loved kids and was often seen signing goggles for littles ones at the track.
Kabel had been working in the Tottenham area this year and had been dating Sandra Zinn for the last three years. Like the Kabel family, Zinn has been inconsolable with the news of Todd’s passing. He had reportedly lost his job in March and ended up without a place to live, instead sleeping in a park where he was found this weekend.
“The only relief I find at the moment is knowing he is at peace, safe from all elements,” said his sister Kim. “F.U. addiction and what you can do to people. I think my brother just gave up.”
And has Kim emphasized to me when we talked, the stigma of depression continues to be an issue in society. “People that have never experienced this have no empathy or understanding of the power; how depression and booze or drugs feeds each other.”
What most of us will remember more about Todd was that there was a good person on the inside, a passionate person and a determined will to make himself the best at what he did, for as long as he could.
Chad Walker produced this poignant video on Todd’s life as a jockey:
My story on his comeback in 2012 here.
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