Innovative book retailer, philanthropist, and successful Thoroughbred owner/breeder Leonard “Len” Riggio died Aug. 27 in New York City, according to a family spokeswoman and reported by multiple media outlets. He was 83 and had Alzheimer’s disease.
Riggio raced and bred under the name My Meadowview, a farm he owned on Long Island, N.Y., that began as the home of show horses campaigned by his wife Louise and daughter Stephanie and later became the birthplace of his New York-bred Thoroughbred racehorses.
A native from the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, Riggio enjoyed going to the races and dreamt of one day owning his own horses. In 2001 he campaigned with Joseph Cornacchia his first winner, a colt by Pulpit named Father Steve who he bought through trainer Nick Zito for $900,000 at the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The colt won three times out of 11 starts.
Riggio raced his first black-type performer in 2005 with Noble Causeway, who was runner-up in the Florida Derby (G1) and went on to become the owner/breeder’s first starter in the Kentucky Derby (G1), where he finished 14th. The following year, his stable’s Doc Cheney was runner-up in the Dwyer Stakes (G2). Homebred Marion Ravenwood became Riggio’s first stakes winner in the 2011 Capades Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack and would later play a bigger role in his breeding program.
Marion Ravenwood at Ashview Farm, near Versailles, Ky.
“Having Noble Causeway with Nick Zito really got his juices flowing. He wanted to do more than just buy yearlings, he wanted to be more a part of the process,” recalled Lincoln Collins, president of Kern Bloodstock, who managed Riggio’s Thoroughbred operation from 2007 until 2023, when the last of the farm’s Thoroughbred stock was sold. “In the late 2000s, he began assembling quite a talented group of mares.”
These earlier purchases included grade 1-placed, grade 2 winner Andujar ($2.5 million), stakes-placed, graded stakes producer Oatsee ($1.55 million), and grade 1 winners Love Theway Youare ($1.45 million) and Appealing Zophie ($1.1 million).
“He was always very supportive of me and gave me opportunities to buy horses and breed to stallions that were a dream for someone who does what I do,” said Collins. “As an owner/breeder it takes a long time for the results to come in and he was patient. And, his program has had an influence on the breed.”
My Meadowview bred and raised the dams of several grade 1 winners. Marion Ravenwood (a daughter of Andujar) became the dam of 2021 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Idol and Nest , a three-time grade 1 winner who also was runner-up in the 2022 Belmont Stakes (G1). Nest was second in the Belmont Stakes to Mo Donegal , who is out of the My Meadowview homebred winner Callingmissbrown . The farm also bred Riviera Romper , the dam of 2021 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) winner Lexitonian ; and, Lemon Liqueur , the dam of 2022 New York Stakes (G1T) winner Bleecker Street .
Riggio did not breed and raise Appealing Zophie, but he bred her most accomplished foal Tapwrit , a son of Tapit that he sold during the 2015 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton’s boutique select yearling sale, for $1.2 million to Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Robert LaPenta. The colt, consigned by Denali Stud, went on to win the 2017 Belmont Stakes (G1) and Tampa Bay Derby (G2). Tapwrit stood the 2024 breeding season at Gainesway for $7,500.
Riggio’s most accomplished runner as an owner is Ride a Comet , a colt by Candy Ride out of Appealing Zophie, whose three graded stakes wins included the 2018 Del Mar Derby (G2T), and he was second in the 2021 Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. Riggio raced Ride a Comet with John Oxley.
Collins described Riggio as a wonderful, generous man who loved his horses. He valued trips to Kentucky to see his mares and foals boarded there and enjoyed the training hours at Saratoga Race Course. His close connection to the horses he bred and raised was reflected in his early commitment to assuring their transition to other careers after racing or into a comfortable retirement.
“His whole family was very conscientious about caring for the horses they bred. They were really way ahead of the curve on that,” said Collins. “To begin with, they would claim their horses back and then later Len decided none of their horses were to be run in the claiming ranks. If they were not good enough to be maiden special weight or allowance horses then they were found a new job or retired.”
One of the current retirees at My Meadowview is Samraat , the farm’s New York homebred son of Noble Causeway who won the 2014 Withers Stakes (G3) and Gotham Stakes (G3) before finishing second in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2). Samraat delivered Riggio his best finish in the Kentucky Derby, when he ran fifth in 2014—missing fourth place by a nose.
As Riggio was building his breeding program, he also served on the New York Racing Association board from 2007-17.
Riggio made his mark in the business world by building the Barnes & Noble book retailer and publishing company into the country’s largest publicly traded book store chain. His stores broke new ground among booksellers by offering comfortable chairs and tables where customers could linger and read with a good cup of coffee.
The New Yorker also was an avid and skilled art collector and a committed philanthropist. Len and Louise Riggio created a nonprofit called Project Home Again that built and gave away 101 homes in New Orleans following the devastating flooding from Hurricane Katrina, according to the Wall Street Journal. Collins said he gave to many causes, often anonymously.
“He was a brilliant man and a good man,” said Collins. “It makes me very happy that through these various fillies he bred and raised that the legacy of My Meadowview will be around for years to come. Personally, I owe him a lot.”
Riggio’s survivors include Louise, three daughters, and four grandchildren.
