Richiebee and Lecomte

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Firstly, Richiebee I consider you one of the preeminent thoroughbred historians at this site. Could you try to answer this question. In the Late Eighties/Early Nineties there were three horses which I believe were trained by the same trainer. One was Dixieland Brass, who bowed a tendon training up to the Florida Derby.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/dixieland+brass

Another was Pie In Your Eye

http://www.pedigreequery.com/pie+in+your+eye

and a third was Baron De Vaux,

http://www.pedigreequery.com/baron+de+vaux

A Horse I had for third in a straight Belmont Stakes Trifecta. Unbridled was forced off his Lasix back then if you recall and Nafzger was restricting his fluids in an attempt to avoid race day bleeding. Notably in that race Nick Zito had his first horse capable of the Triple Crown. A horse named Thirty Six Red and he finished 2nd in that Belmont.

My question Richie is did the same trainer train all three?. What is his name and where is he now? He was an older man even in 1989, so the last question may be moot. I mention this because in going over the Lecomte Card, I noticed Pie in Your Eye is a track record holder. He was a horse I liked. If I recall correctly his foot fell off.

Following Results from Lecomte Day
F&M 4^ 1M SNW2X-24.37, 48.04, 1.13.18-1.39.90
4^ CL12.5 8.5  -23.50, 46.71, 1.12.24, 1.38.75-1.45.60
4^ CL50 6f     -21.63, 44.65, 56.97-1.10.51
4^ 75K/NW4X 6f -21.33, 44.70, 57.04-1.10.30
Grass Race
4^ 100Kstk 6f  -21.92, 44.93, 57.03-1.09.58
Grass Race
F 3YO 100stk 1m-23.78, 47.03, 1.12.33-1.39.52
3YO 100stk 1m  -23.76, 46.78, 1.11.10-1.37.87
4^ NW1X 1m 40y -23.15, 46.41, 1.11.81, 1.37.08-1.39.56
FM 4/5 Mdn12k 6-22.87, 47.73, 1.00.72, 1.14.22

Hard Spun\'s Race is the third from the bottom. To me it looks impressive on the day until compared to the race immediately following it. That race was won by a horse named Piety, a 4YO Juddmonte Gelding by Pulpit trained by Robert Frankel. Though he ran light, if I don\'t miss my guess he\'s heading on to try bigger things soon. Though I understand Frankel is pointing High Limit for the March 10th New Orleans handicap.

[richiebee]

When CtC calls me a historian, its a way of pointing out my advanced age.

Without wanting to surf too extensively, or go to the bookshelves, the briefest
of searches disclosed that Baron de Vaux, second in the 1990 Haskell at 26/1
under Cruguet, was trained by Charles Peoples. (The 1990 Haskell was won by
Restless Con, ridden by Tim Doocy and trained by Duane Offield; two of the
three favorites in the race, Profit Key (Lukas/Santos) and Secret Hello
(Brothers/Day) were second last and last, so in retrospect it could be said
that this was a good betting race).

Your pedigree report for Dixieland Brass, winner of the 1989 Hutcheson,discloses
that DB was owned and bred by Bayard Sharp, who bred owned and raced many good
ones, mainly in Maryland. I am pretty certain that Peoples trained for Mr.
Sharp somewhere along the way, so Charles Peoples might be your man.

Information about Pie in the Sky is more elusive, but your pedigree report
states that he won the 1992 running of the G3 Cherry Hill Mile at Garden State
Park---in a glacial 1:39.

I shall digress here. The Garden State Park which opened in 1985, built by
Robert Brennan with the funds of others, was probably as nice a track as I was
associated with. A beautiful though empty grandstand, a modern, clean
backstretch area with a clean receiving barn and veterinary clinic, a safe
surface, an acessible paddock. Hard to believe that NJ is down to 1 facility
dedicated to thoroughbred racing.

Oh sorry were you talking bout the Ky Derby sponsored by Yums Brands? I guess
you\'re still liking the Pa Bred? Does it bother you at all that he goes from
the 8 \"mark\" LeComte into another 8 mark race, the Southwest at Oaklawn?

The extent of my intrigue with the Derby this year is to see what role the
Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland will play as a Derby prep, and how horses who run
over the rug in Lexington will fare at Churchill in their next race.

But as the Guru says, its foolish to go on for hours and hours 3 months in
advance of an event which will take less than 2 minutes.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Thanks Richie, Charles Peoples is the guy. I\'m about positive he trained all three. He was a good bet in that era.

I didn\'t realize Hard Spun was pointing for the Southwest, (Feb 19th), I\'d have preferred to get him 8.5 next but sometimes race distance is less important than race spacing. I\'m convinced the near term goal is the Louisiana Derby, (March 10th). Will Distance ultimately be an issue for him? Well, it is for most of them, we\'ll see. I think T-Graph probably has the Lecomte faster than some of the others, but I like what I perceive as a steady forging pattern with Hard Spun and the fact that he does appear to be finishing his races. Once/If he finishes them against a horse like No Biz or Street Sense, there will be no price, though he was pretty short price last.

However, I\'ve got nothing against Penn Breds. Think I\'ve won two Derbies with them. Lil E. Tee and Smarty Jones. I really did not realize Hard Spun was a Penn Bred but thanks for the notice. Don\'t construe this to be about a bona fide Derby selection. This is about factoring horses with chances against the perceived divisional leaders in the races about to unfold.