For more than a decade, Salvatore "Sal" DeBunda was the person Pennsylvania's Thoroughbred trainers, jockeys, and backstretch workers counted on whenever the sport's future was being decided in Harrisburg. DeBunda, who served as president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association from 2010 to 2022 after some 15 years on its board as first vice president, and who was twice honored by the Parx Racing Hall of Fame, died peacefully on July 9, 2026, in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He was 83.

DeBunda came to the racetrack through the law. After earning his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1965 and his law degree from Penn's law school in 1968, he built a career spanning more than 50 years, rising to co-managing partner at the Philadelphia firm Archer & Greiner, according to his Volpe Funeral Home obituary. It was as counsel to Pennsylvania's horsemen, though, that his legal training carried the most weight for the industry he loved.

Elected PTHA president in 2010 after some 15 years on the association's board as first vice president, DeBunda held the post for roughly a dozen years, according to BloodHorse. As the association's counsel, he was the primary drafter of the horsemen's sections of Pennsylvania's 2004 slot-machine legislation, the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, which redirected casino revenue into purses, breeding incentives, and backstretch worker benefits that still fund the state's racing industry today. He went on to serve as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission for the rest of his life.

DeBunda's advocacy for the sport extended to the airwaves. In 1992, he and broadcaster Bruce Casella launched "Let's Go Racing," a weekly television program covering Pennsylvania racing that DeBunda executive produced. "He and I decided that we needed a horse racing show in the Philadelphia market, so together we started 'Let's Go Racing.'" Casella recalled, according to the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association. More than three decades later, the show is still on the air.

He was also a horseman in the literal sense. Racing under his own name and as Dun Roamin Farm, DeBunda owned and bred stakes winners including Collegeville Girl, Discreet Senorita, Great Lookinblonde, and Sinceilostmybaby. The Parx Racing Hall of Fame recognized him twice: with a Special Achievement Award in 2013 for his work on behalf of horsemen, and with induction in the Owners category in 2017.

Even as he neared the end of his own tenure, DeBunda made a point of crediting the people who kept the industry running. When longtime PTHA executive director Michael Ballezzi announced his retirement in 2021, DeBunda said Ballezzi "had an immense impact on Parx and Pennsylvania racing, and he has created a legacy that will benefit horsemen, backstretch workers, and our equine athletes for years to come," according to The Horse of Delaware Valley.

Outside the racetrack, DeBunda chaired the board of the Philly Pops orchestra and served on the board of the Longport Seaview Condominium Association on the New Jersey shore. He is survived by his children, Lauren Shank and David DeBunda; his three grandchildren, Thomas, Daniel, and Sky Shank; his half-sister, Patricia Bailey; his half-brother, Armando Roggio; and his former wives, Susan Sheffield and Carol DeBunda.

The revenue stream DeBunda helped write into Pennsylvania law still funds purses and breeding programs at Parx Racing. The Saturday-morning broadcast he started with a friend in 1992 is still on the air. The horses that carried his colors are still in the record books under Dun Roamin Farm. For the horsemen who spent decades bringing their disputes and their hopes to his office, that combination of law, legislation, and love of the game is what DeBunda built and left in place.