Lecomte was a thoroughbred race horse bred and owned by Thomas J Wells on his Wellswood Plantation and Stud farm in Louisiana in 1850 an named for Wells' friend and fellow Louisiana turfman Ambrose Lecomte. Lecomte was a son of Boston out of the Glencoe Mare, Reel. Boston was the dominant runner of his time becoming a great sire, Lecomte was Reel’s best son.
As there could be no other way, two of Boston’s great sons, Lecomte and Lexington would meet for the first of three races in one the most celebrated rivalries in all of horse racing. The first race was the April 1, 1854 Great Post Stakes run in New Orleans at Metairie race course - three “heats” of four miles, must win two of three, running a possible twelve miles. If you were “distanced”, you were disqualified. The fashion of the time was to run a heat, rinse and cool out for about forty-five minutes then starts the next heat. Richard Ten Broeck, a New Yorker, was the master promoter of this race and was part owner of Lexington and was a shareholder in the race course; he profited from the gate and if Lexington won he clutched a part of the purse. Racegoers and gamblers from all walks of life came in from throughout the region with over 20,000 attending, including President Millard Fillmore.
Four were entered; the two favorites Lexington and Lecomte came in undefeated, Lexington with three straight wins, Lecomte with five. They were off at the tap of a drum; Lexington won two four-mile heats, back to back. Some say it was the off track, Wells blamed his jockey and he wanted a rematch - the rivalry was on.
Promotional genius Broeck ballyhooed the rematch, but there was a hitch in the getup - the Lexington partnership thought the race was to be run too soon, but Broeck wouldn’t let that stop him, he bought the partners out and the race was on! The rematch came one week later in the Jockey Club Purse; the track was reported as fast and dry, with Lecomte getting the leading jock Abe Hawkins. Abe and Lecomte won the first heat by a slim margin while knocking six seconds off the world’s best four miles time - history has it that Abe used neither whip nor spur. In the second heat Lecomte won again, in a slower time but by four lengths. The New Orleans Picayune said it was satisfied
“that we have witnessed the best race, in all respects, that was ever run and that Lecomte stands proudly before the world as the best horse ever produced on the turf.”
Broeck would have none of that! But Wells didn’t want the rematch. In a promotional masterpiece Broeck bet Wells $10,000 bucks that Lexington, in a race against the clock, could best Lecomte’s world record time. Wells took the bet and lost, setting up for the greatest grudge match of all times.
The third and final race came on April 14, 1855 with Abe on Lecomte and “Gilpatrick”, Abe’s arch rival, on Lexington. There were no other entrants, it was their first real match race and everyone knew about it.
People from all over the country converged on the Shell Road to Metairie, which had become a giant picnic, a forerunner of the twenty-first-century tailgate party, but with coaches and carriages of all sorts. Their occupants watched the races from their vehicles in the infield, while others jammed the stands on the other side of the track, along the home stretch. As Creole dancers, minstrels, and purveyors of drinks and exotic birds worked the infield, every tree around the course sprouted railbirds, somewhat removed from their native habitat, the rail, but happy to have even a glimpse of the biggest American sporting event anybody could remember. It was the Super Bowl of the nineteenth century. (Hoatling, 1999)
The drum was tapped and they were off in a deafening roar but they went too fast too soon, running the first quarter in a blistering 25 and 1/2 seconds; one of them surely would be distanced. Lecomte nearly collapsed and was withdrawn from the race after the first heat; pace truly does make the race. Lexington and Lecomte would not meet again.
Lexington was retired to stud. Broeck bought Lecomte, sailed him to the UK and challenged any English race horse, $10,000 bucks in a match race; there were no takers. Lecomte was entered in the Warwick Cup and lost by 20 lengths. He died from colic a month later. Richard Ten Broeck lived to promote another day.
169 years later we have the 76th running of the Lecomte Stakes.
