By Randy Monk
sports.desk@theindependent.com

However, a short career in construction, retail and as a jockey agent made Leeds yearn for a return to the saddle. A return that has bloomed this spring at Fonner Park.

"I hurt my back at Ellis Park after hurting it earlier in 2006 in Florida," Leeds said. "I decided that that was enough and to make sure I didn't change my mind, I even sold all of my racing tack."

Leeds embarked on a career away from the racing scene, first working construction, then working at a local grocery store in his hometown in Iowa.

"I was working really hard for what I thought wasn't all that great deal of money," Leeds said.

A return to the racetrack was in order, but in a different role than before. He became a jockey agent for Guadalupe Macias at Indiana Downs and Macias had a successful meet as he finished third in the jockey standings

But then Leeds decided that he still had a desire to ride even though he was quite a bit above riding weight.

"I weighed about 145 pounds, so I needed to drop some weight," Leeds said. "I started working out horses at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa, and I started dropping some weight. By the time the Lincoln races ran last summer, I was pretty close to my riding weight."

Leeds, who is a fitness buff, runs and rides a bicycle on a regular basis. However, he found an interesting way to lose weight during the Lincoln races at State Fair Park.

"I drove over from Iowa everyday to ride and I wore a rubber suit with the windows up and no air conditioning," Leeds said. "By the time I got to Lincoln everyday, I usually had sweated off four or five pounds for the day."

Running off weight and staying fit came naturally for Leeds, who was an outstanding wrestler at Central Lee High School in wrestling-crazy, Iowa.

"As a junior I finished fourth at the state meet," Leeds said. "I was ranked as high as second my senior year in my weight class," Leeds said.

A desire to become a jockey led Damon away from the wrestling mats and into the winner's circle before graduating from high school.

"I started riding at Prairie Meadows and became fairly successful," Leeds said. "I hooked up with some good trainers and moved on to have some nice success in Kentucky and New York."

It was in Kentucky as a young rider that Leeds had one of his favorite moments in racing.

"At Churchill Downs in a nice allowance race, I beat Pat Day on the favorite," Leeds said. "That was really a thrill as Pat is not only one of the great jockeys ever, but a really nice guy, who always went out of his way to be good to young riders."

At another track that Day frequented, Leeds lists his greatest moment in racing.

"I won the Dixieland Handicap on Moro Oro in the first race I ever rode at Oaklawn Park," Leeds said. "He was completely overlooked in the race. We paid like $26 to win, it was a big thrill."

Leeds has also had some thrills so far this meet at Fonner Park. He has won three stakes races among his 24 wins, which is good for third place overall in the jockey standings.

Leeds won on the David Anderson-trained Ittakestwobaby twice and also raced to a win in last Saturday's Dowd Mile Stakes on Blumin Attitude. Leeds lists the Dowd Mile win as one of his career highlights as he was exceptionally proud of the four-year-old Blumin Attitude trained by Jim Cranwell of St. Paul.

"He needs a route of ground to make his best run and he showed it last week," Leeds said. "That was a big thrill for me to win a stake race on him, especially on that day."

Leeds said the victory was extra special because he also turned 36 years old on the day of the Dowd Mile.

"I had won a couple of races on my birthday before, but never a stakes race," Leeds said. "That, plus how much I like the horse, made it pretty special."

Leeds has enjoyed his success at Fonner Park and is looking forward to continue riding on the Nebraska circuit.

"I really like it here," Leeds said. "The people at the track and the fans are just great. I plan to be around here for a while."