alt=Picture of Leslie Combs II|thumb|Leslie Combs II, with Yvanne & Mark Glancey '''Leslie Combs II''' (1901–1990) was an American racehorse owner and breeder. He was the founder and owner of the Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.
==Biography==
===Early life=== He was born in 1901.<ref name="bowen">Edward L. Bowen, ''Legacies Of The Turf: A Century Of Great Thoroughbred Breeders'', Eclipse Press, 2004, Volume 2, p. 129 [https://books.google.com/books?id=i7ilgwjwtN4C&pg=PA129]</ref> His father Daniel committed suicide {{citation needed|date=April 2020}} when he was only fourteen years old.<ref name="bowen"/> He attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he roomed with George Swinebroad.<ref name="bowen"/>
He spent a year in Guatemala working for Herbert F. Schlubach at the South American Plantation Company and contracted malaria there.<ref name="bowen"/> Mr. Schlubach was married to his aunt {{citation needed|date=April 2020}}, Annette Combs Schlubach. He returned to Kentucky and worked for the American Rolling Mill Company in Ashland.<ref name="bowen"/> He moved to Huntington, West Virginia and started his own business, the Combs-Ritter Insurance Company.
===Horsebreeding=== In 1937, he bought 127 acres in Lexington from Daniel Swigert and called it Spendthrift Farm in honor of Spendthift.<ref name="bowen"/> Together with his uncle Brownwell Combs, he owned Myrtle Charm and Myrtlewood.<ref name="bowen"/> He was also the breeder of Majestic Prince, later owned by Frank M. McMahon.<ref>''Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century'', Eclipse Press, 1999, p. 140 [https://books.google.com/books?id=YWGNmICO5OAC&pg=PA140]</ref> Later, he advised Elizabeth Arden (1884–1966) of Maine Chance Farm about which horses to purchase, including Star Pilot, Beaugay, Jet Pilot, etc.<ref name="bowen"/> He also revitalized the syndication of racehorses, buying Nashua through a syndication for US$1.25 million.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8-3Q5fDGa2cC&pg=PA97 ''Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments'', Eclipse Press, 2006, p. 97]</ref>
===Personal life=== He married Dorothy Enslow, daughter of the founder of the Columbia Gas and Electric Company, in 1924.<ref name="bowen"/> He died in 1990.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leslie Combs, Horse Owner, Is Dead at 88 (Published 1990) |website=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306160339/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/10/obituaries/leslie-combs-horse-owner-is-dead-at-88.html |archive-date=2016-03-06 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/10/obituaries/leslie-combs-horse-owner-is-dead-at-88.html}}</ref>
==Bibliography==
===Secondary sources=== *Mary Marshall, ''Great Breeders and Their Methods: Leslie Combs II and Spendthrift Farm'' (Neenah, Wisconsin: Russell Meerdink Co., 2008, 178 pages).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_2gm30sGK6MC&q=%22Leslie+Combs+II%22 Google Books]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combs, Leslie II}} Category:1901 births Category:1990 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Category:Centre College alumni Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:20th-century American people