No, Kentucky Derby winner Sonny Leon didn’t turn down an invitation to visit the White House

In one of many greatest upsets in Kentucky Derby historical past, jockey Sonny Leon and racehorse Wealthy Strike took residence the title. 

After Leon’s win, some social media posts on Twitter, Reddit and Fb mentioned Sonny Leon – and his horse – declined an invite to fulfill with President Joe Biden on the White Home. The posts attribute the next quote to Leon: “If I needed to see a horse’s ass, I might have got here in second.”

Google Traits information additionally present that individuals are asking whether or not Leon turned down an invite to the White Home.

Did Kentucky Derby winner Sonny Leon flip down an invite to go to the White Home?

No, Kentucky Derby winner Sonny Leon didn’t flip down an invite to go to the White Home. This joke has been repeated a number of occasions on social media through the years in reference to different race winners.

There isn’t a report of Leon declining an invite to the White Home on-line or in video following his Kentucky Derby win. VERIFY searched Leon’s Instagram and Twitter accounts and located no point out of the quote on both account. 

There are not any mentions elsewhere of Leon saying this following his Kentucky Derby win, both. Right here’s what he did say, in keeping with quotes supplied by Churchill Downs racetrack: “You recognize we had a tough submit however I do know the horse. I didn’t know if he might win however I had a great feeling with him. I needed to wait till the stretch and that’s what I did. I waited after which the rail opened up. I wasn’t nervous, I used to be excited. No one is aware of my horse like I do know my horse.”

An identical posts about declined invites to the White Home have been falsely attributed to previous Kentucky Derby winners. 

In 2021, a viral Fb submit claimed Medina Spirit’s jockey John Velazquez, who received the Kentucky Derby that 12 months, additionally turned down an invite to the White Home. It used the identical “horse’s ass” quote. The poster later clarified that they have been joking.

Velazquez additionally responded to the claims in a tweet by saying he hadn’t been invited to the White Home. 

Another tweet from May 2021 about racehorse Medina Spirit declining an invitation to fulfill with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida used the identical language. 

However these weren’t the primary situations of the joke circulating on social media. In 2018, the identical factor was mentioned in regards to the winner of the Triple Crown, one other American horseracing championship, in a submit to the r/Jokes Reddit thread.

VERIFY reached out to Leon, the Kentucky Derby and the White Home for remark, however didn’t obtain a reply by the point of publication. A spokesperson for the Churchill Downs Basis mentioned they’d “no data of the state of affairs” and have been unable to remark.