Feature Race | Auction | Breeding | General | Hall of Fame | Harness | Interviews | Mixed Breed | New Players | Racing | Site Updates | Steeplechasing | Steward's Cup | Triple Crown
Hall of Fame Profile: Legendofthepeople
Original article written by Dan Kauffman posted 8 years 3 weeks agoBrowse through any sport's Hall of Fame and you'll find that, aside from a small percentage who have an argument for the best of all-time, most athletes (or horses in this case) fall into one of two categories:
• One who has a long and consistent career, piling up the stats and finishing with a top-tier résumé even if no single season stood out as phenomenal.
• One whose peak was so amazingly great, the lack of longevity didn't matter.
Those who witnessed Legendofhtepeople race in years 14 through 17, or years 20-21, would have been hard-pressed to believe they were witnessing a Hall of Fame SIM horse. But those who saw the chestnut gelding in Year 18 or Year 19 saw another horse entirely: A two-time Steward's Cup Steeplechase winner and Champion Steeplechaser honoree who won seven straight starts and 9 of 11 overall, racking up almost $1.3 million in those two seasons.
Legendofthepeople was bred by The Steward and originally given to Thomas Hodge before being sold to Faith Powers for a meager $20,000. His sire, People's Champion, was a dirt router who won Champion Three Year Old Colt honors in Year 5 after winning four graded stakes races, and he was the Baltimore Special champion and Desert World Cup runner-up in Year 6. Legendofthepeople's dam was StarlightExpress I, an obscure dirt sprinter who won only a maiden special weight race and had absolutely no other success as a broodmare.
Legendofthepeople competed on the flat track at distances ranging from 4 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles for the first four years of his racing career, with moderate (at best) success. As a 3-year-old in Year 15, he finished fourth in the Arcadia Derby for his best flat result. But he never finished better than third in any of his 13 flat races, earning only $119,000 — and getting sold to Patten Fuqua for $22,000 toward the end of Year 17 as a 5-year-old.
After an 11th-place finish in the Gelding World Cup Classic at Louisville Downs to end Year 17, Fuqua decided to try Legendofthepeople in steeplechase races in Year 18 — and transformed his career.
His ascent from mediocrity to magnificence started in the Churchill Road Hurdle, a listed stakes race over 2 3/8 miles at Hurdle Park in England in Week 2. He dominated the 12-horse field — including future stakes winner McFarlan, who settled for second a good 10 lengths behind.
Two weeks later, Legendofthepeople returned to Hurdle Park and took on another full field in the Grade 3, 2-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase. Future multiple graded stakes winner Niteinshiningarmor also was in the field, but this one became a blazing-fast battle between Legendofthepeople and McFarlan, who produced a huge race. It wasn't enough, as Legendofthepeople held the challenger off and set a world record, covering the 2 miles in 3:23.50 — a mark that still stood as of this writing.
The steeplechase rookie was generating real buzz and next entered one of the world's biggest races: The Grade 1, $750,000 Grand National at Hurdle Park. It was a big jump (no pun intended) up in distance (4 miles). The field included River of Silence (coming off a win in the Sandown Handicap Hurdle two weeks prior), stakes winner Solitary I and future multiple graded stakes winner Solar Eclipse. But none of them could match Legendofthepeople's final surge as he came from mid-pack to make it 3-for-3 with a 1½-length victory.
Now a certifiable star, Legendofthepeople turned his attention to the Steward's Cup Steeplechase at Chaser Downs in Maryland. He would head to Maryland early to run two preps in advance, the first coming in Week 11 in the Grade 1, 2 3/8-mile NY Turf Writer's Cup. A full field took the gate, including Grade 1 winners A Storm Is Brewing and Bad Marriage, as well as several other stakes winners. Legendofthepeople went up front early and stayed there for the duration, splitting runner-up A Storm Is Brewing and third-place Bad Marriage while driving to the wire for a one-length victory.
The second prep came two weeks later, in the Grade 1, 2 3/4-mile Colonial Cup. A Storm Is Brewing returned for another shot, and Grand National runner-up Bainbridge Forever also was in the 12-horse field. Legendofthepeople stumbled out of the gate and gave his jockey fits early, but finished strong to pass Bainbridge Forever with a furlong left and win by more than two lengths to go to 5-for-5 lifetime over the jumps.
Only one hurdle (OK, a few more than that, har har) remained between Legendofthepeople and an undefeated year: The Steward's Cup Steeplechase, contested over 2 5/8 miles. Some familiar rivals (Bad Marriage, A Storm Is Brewing, Bainbridge Forever, Solar Eclipse) were part of the full field, as well as new challengers Shrouded In Myst (4-for-4 on the year, all stakes wins) and My Stronghold (a stakes winner). Legendofthepeople settled near the middle of the pack on the outside, then made his move late and left no doubt who the best steeplechaser of Year 18 was, capping his 6-for-6 season by beating Shrouded in Myst by more than a length. He finished the year with $855,000 in earnings -- more than seven times what he made on the dirt in the previous four years combined.
Legendofthepeople opened his 7-year-old campaign in Year 19, Week 3 back at Chaser Downs in the Grade 2, 2 1/2-mile Royal Chase. A new crop of challengers filled the eight-horse field, including future Grade 1 stakes winner Great White Hunter (4-for 4 in Year 18, though none of them were stakes) and stakes winner Hollywoodhotshot and My Stronghold. Legendofthepeople ran a clean race (as did Great White Hunter and My Stronghold) and rallied from mid-pack with a powerful late surge to improve to 7-for-7, beating Great White Hunter to the line by 1 3/4 lengths.
Four weeks later, Legendofthepeople made the overseas trip to Hurdle Park to defend his title in the Grand National. In addition to familiar foe Solar Eclipse, the 12-horse field included Grade 1 stakes winner Evacuee (on a 5-for-6 run in stakes outings), multiple stakes winner The Goblet of Fire and future Grade 1 stakes winners Flaming Sky and Latin Music. Legendofthepeople once again took up shop in mid-pack before starting to rally, but he badly blundered a jump and never fully recovered, finishing a shocking fourth -- 3 1/2 lengths behind winner The Goblet of Fire -- to fall short in his repeat bid and snap his six-race winning streak.
Legendofthepeople returned to Chaser Downs -- where he would remain for the rest of his racing career -- and looked to get back on track in Week 11 as the defending champion in the NY Turf Writer's Cup. Also in the 11-horse field were Evacuee, A Storm Is Brewing and a new challenger in Contino, a winner of 3 of 4 stakes outings entering the race. Evacuee and Legendofthepeople battled up front throughout the race, with Legendofthepeople getting a slight edge when Evacuee blundered a jump -- only to blunder the next jump himself and give the lead right back. Evacuee had more down the stretch and won by a length with a 100 speed figure (the figures had just debuted), with Legendofthepeople settling for second with a 95.
Now 0-for-2 in his bids to repeat as champion in the previous two outings, Legendofthepeople hoped for a better ending as the defending champion in the Colonial Cup in Week 13. The top challengers in the 12-horse field were all new faces, including Grade 1 stakes winners Take Notice (entering on a three-race winning streak) and Title Of The Song, multiple stakes winner Hoopla and stakes winner Ghost Town. Legendofthepeople was on his 'A' game in this one, clearing all the jumps cleanly and roaring from the pack to take the lead. He pulled away to a two-length victory over Title Of The Song, posting a 100 and gaining a little momentum and confidence for his upcoming Steward's Cup Steeplechase repeat attempt.
A 14-horse field took the gate for the SC Steeplechase to cap Year 19, with most of the attention focused on favorites Legendofthepeople and Evacuee. Shrouded In Myst, Thief (3-for-3 on the year with two stakes wins), My Stronghold, Contino and Ghost Town also were contenders. As the race developed, it came down to Legendofthepeople, Evacuee and Shrouded In Myst. Shrouded in Myst bobbled a late jump and lost ground, and when Evacuee bobbled the final jump, Legendofthepeople seized the moment, finishing a clean effort with a powerful final surge to make it two straight Steward's Cup championships with a 1 1/2-length victory and 100 speed figure (Evacuee and Shrouded In Myst both posted 99s). Once again, Legendofthepeople was the year's Champion Steeplechaser, finishing Year 19 3-for-5 with $460,500 in earnings.
And that's where the magic ended. Legendofthepeople would race seven more times over the next two years, but would never hit the board again, let alone win. His best finish was a game fourth-place effort as a longshot in the Year 20 Steward's Cup Steeplechase after finishing out of the money in all of his previous four outings that year. He was less than a length behind champion Evacuee, who beat Shrouded In Myst by a neck.
Still, for two spectacular years, the chestnut gelding was the talk of the Steeplechase world -- earning Legendofthepeople immortality as a SIM Hall of Famer.