Churchill Downs Derby-winning trainer Don Combs died Sunday morning at Sayre Christian Village in Lexington following a stroke. He was 86.
“His first wife called me this morning and said he had a stroke,” said family friend Bobby Penn. “I had been up to see him about a month or two ago. Everything was ok then. He knew me and everything. I told her I would come back and see him. She called me this morning and said he passed away from a stroke.”
Penn recalled their friendship spanning decades. “I met Don at Keeneland. My family operated a feed business and he was a customer. We went to New York around the same time and we played golf together and shot pheasants and saw each other socially. He was just a really nice guy.”
Combs made racing history at age 31 when he trained Dust Commander to victory in the 1970 GI Kentucky Derby. Despite this early career highlight, the Derby triumph proved to be the pinnacle of his training career.
His stable remained relatively small throughout his career, which concluded with his retirement in 2019. Combs finished with 326 wins from 2,918 starters and claimed 11 stakes victories, including three black-type races.
“Don was always good natured, so I don’t know if it bothered him that he didn’t have a lot of success,” Penn said. “It was hard to know what he was thinking. I like to tell trainers don’t get to the top because when you do it’s a long way down. But he was always a pretty optimistic fellow.”
In a 2010 interview with the Daily Racing Form, Combs addressed his career trajectory candidly. “It’s because I haven’t had any good horses,” he told reporter Marty McGee. “Good horses make good trainers.”
The Lexington native and 1957 graduate of Lafayette High School approached horsemanship differently than many of his contemporaries.
“Unlike many trainers I’ve met, Combs is a self-professed animal lover,” wrote Brandon Quick in a 2018 Louisville magazine profile. “He talks softly to the cat and knowingly violates the cardinal rule in the horse business about getting too emotionally close to the animals.”
Dust Commander, like his trainer, was considered an underdog in racing circles. The Illinois-bred had run in claiming races earlier in his career before capturing the GI Blue Grass Stakes in his final Derby prep. Despite this victory, handicappers dismissed it as a fluke, sending Dust Commander to the post at 15-1 odds.
With jockey Mike Manganello aboard, Dust Commander won the 96th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 1970, completing the 1¼ miles in 2:03 4/5, ahead of My Dad George and High Echelon. He subsequently finished ninth as the 3-1 favorite in the GI Preakness.
Combs resigned as Dust Commander’s trainer shortly after the Preakness. He cited owner Robert Lehmann’s lack of trust in his judgment as the reason for the split.
“Mr. Lehmann knows a lot about the construction business, but I don’t think he knows much about horses,” Combs said at the time.
At stud, Dust Commander sired 1975 GI Preakness Stakes winner Master Derby, securing his place in racing’s breeding legacy.
