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BUTCH LEHR
“There aren’t many vice presidents over there,” says Lehr, waving a hand in the direction of the main office building, “that could say that.” After military service, where he attained the rank of platoon sergeant, Lehr returned to full-time employment at Churchill. When his uncle retired in 1976, Pangburn promoted Lehr to be his assistant. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess he must have taken a liking to me,” Lehr says of Pangburn. “Work was never a problem: I was always there, and if they needed me I’d work ungodly hours. I can’t remember how many times I said, ‘I can’t do this because I’ve got to work.’ That seemed like my whole life.” Lehr gradually took on increasing responsibility as Pangburn’s assistant. It was, he says, a test, “putting more pressure on the young guy” to see how he coped. Pangburn retired in 1981, and Churchill’s board of directors must have felt that Lehr handled pressure just fine, appointing him track superintendent in December. The job description of track superintendent is all-encompassing. Not only do Lehr and his 27-strong team keep the hallowed racing oval – dirt and turf – in pristine condition, but machinery, training track, barns (housing some 1900 horses), dormitories, rails and hedges also fall under their purview. Churchill stages two annual meetings, in the spring and the fall, and the racetrack and main barn area go on hiatus during the winter. “I think it takes a toll on any racetrack that doesn’t shut down for a period so they
can clean it up. We do all of our repairs in January and February.” An update this spring meeting is the cosmetic refurbishing of the furlong poles, the original ones that have been part of the scenery since 1938. Racing fans will appreciate that Arcaro, Longden, Mehrtens, Turcotte, Cruguet and Cauthen guided their Triple Crown winners around these very columns, and that the same exact eighth pole in place today fooled Shoemaker into standing up early on Gallant Man when they lost the 1957 Derby by a nose. Over the hiatus,
the maintenance crew worked on the markers one by one, encasing them in aluminum and fiberglass. “Nobody’s going to notice but us,” Lehr confesses. But it is exactly that level of attention to detail that defines the superintendent and his men. The most crucial element of any racetrack is the condition of the surfaces. At Churchill, Butch Lehr gets behind the wheel of a tractor and grades the main track. “A lot of people don’t understand, but I get a feel of the track when I do that. You just get a better feel where the low places are, where you’ve got to add material. The grader shows you where those places are. That’s a big part. I do it every day, sometimes, when we’re racing. I’ve got people that do it; both my assistants can do it but I need to know for my own purpose. If the track’s not drying properly, or whatever, I know.” Lehr had better know, because if something’s not right, he’s going to hear about it. For that matter, even if something’s right – but not biased towards a particular trainer – he’s going to hear about it. “Sometimes when you get criticized it makes sense. If all of a sudden a problem crops up, it may be somebody making an excuse, but if it’s something with merit, it makes sense to us. Or, we can say, ‘No, that’s bull.’” The crew relies heavily on the input of trainers and jockeys, actively soliciting their opinions. “We don’t take
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