view raw text
Charlie Peoples, Trainer of Troilus, Veteran Rider of Hunters at Age 7 Was Steeplechase Rider for 1 Owner Bayard Sharp Before | Taking Over His Stable I ! By OSCAR OTIS CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., | May 1. — Charlie Peoples, an Irishman who j was a "veteran" rider of hunting horses at his familys West Chester Pa. farm at J the age of 7, has carefully conditioned Bay- i ard Sharps Troilus for Saturdays Ken- ! j tucky Derby. ! I According to Peoples, his father gave him , his first riding lesson at 5. "My father was from County Donegal and my mother from County Tyrone," says | , I Peoples, "and both my father and grand- i father had horses on the auld sod. I was , lucky to be born and reared on a farm , where I could fool around with hunters, I and kept up my interest even through my ! high school days by foxhunting at every | opportunity. Upon graduation from Oxford j High Oxford, Penn. I worked for a j while in an office but soon decided that ! this line of endeavor was not my particular j | | I i ! ! , | , I i , , I j j j | cup of tea and I launched out as a steeple-I chase rider and all through my saddle career, I was lucky enough to be associ-I ated with owner Bayard Sharp. "When I hung up my tack, I was asked to take over Mr. Sharps farm at Middle-town, Delaware, and I was there three years when an opportunity came to take over the racing stable, which I did in the fall of 1953, but actually, I didni do much train-I ing until well into the spring of 54. My best steeplechase horse that I rode? Well, that would be Refugio, who was good enough to run seventh in the Grand Na-! tional at Aintree, and although my friend Dooley Adams rode him in England. I won the Chevy Chase down in Maryland. A grand horse, that R?fugio. "Mr. Sharp started Hannibal in the Derby of 1949, you will recall, but I was still riding then and had no part in the training. This is really my first visit to Louisville and although Ive been to Keene-land for the sales now and then have never raced here. "When did I first think Troilus might be a good prospect? Why, at the sales ring, of course, where we purchased him on a bid of ,000. You might make the point that when I say sales ring. I mean the Garden State sales, for that was where we got him, right in New Jersey. In fact, one reason Id be more than happy if he would win the Derby would be to bring more recognition to these ever growing, ever improving Jersey sales. Beaten Only Head in Maiden Outing "But all kidding aside, anybody who buys a race horse at a sale must think he has something, but I suspected Troilus might be a cut above the average when he just got beat a head in his maiden outing, then came back to win off by himself by eight or nine lengths and in l:094/5 at Atlantic City. He won his only stakes start at two. the Spalding Lowe Jenkins at Laurel. We didnt start in the Garden State because we didnt think he was up to such an effort at that particular time. His racing accom-plishments in Florida this winter are of such recent vintage that I shant recount them, and although his Florida Derby effort, after winning the Bahamas and Fla- mingo and setting a track record in an allowance event, was poor it was excusable because when he came out of the race we found him suffering from a virus and with a fever." For a man of 35, Charlie Peoples has a tremendous background. 30 years of active interest and work with thoroughbreds and hunters. As a trainer, he follows no set patterns, believing that all thoroughbreds are individuals and as such require specialized routines and programs fitting their equine personalities. He does try to get a horse dead fit. however, with an absolute minimum of morning training. Troilus. he reveals, trains kindly, needs no work horses to go with him, and is an all round good doer and good performer. A pleasant, smiling faced man. Peoples impresses as being a calm, patient man j who has a way with animal;, especially horses. His Irish heritage may help account j for that. He and his wife, Ruth, have four daughters. i ! • I i I , i ;
