Trainer and jockey Louis C. Peck dies at 82 in Illinois
?q=100)
Louis C. Peck, a jockey and trainer of distinction at Fairmount Park and on the Midwestern racing circuit for several decades, died at the age of 82 in Fairfield, Ill., on March 28. The day of his death also marked the 62nd anniversary of his wedding to his wife, LaDonna.
Born on Jan. 17, 1943, in Pine Ridge, S.D., Peck got his start as an apprentice jockey for O.J. "Rusty" Becker, a rancher from nearby Martin, S.D., who also raced horses at Ellis Park., where Peck won his first race in 1960. Peck would go on to be the track's leading apprentice rider in 1961 and the overall leading rider in 1962.
While at Ellis, Peck – who typically went by Louie or L.C. – rode frequently for Owen Rainwater, then one of the track's top trainers. Rainwater introduced Peck to his cousin, LaDonna Edmison, whom he would marry in 1963.
Peck rode for 15 more years before turning to training. Over the course of 23 years, he saddled 818 winners for career earnings of more than $3.2 million. The apex of Peck's training career came in 1989, when he sent out 70 winners from 458 starts for $262,195 in earnings.
Based in Illinois, Peck entered horses at Cahokia Downs, Sportsman's Park, Arlington, and Hawthorne, but the majority of his wins came at his home track of Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Ill.
A deacon at Winstanley Baptist Church in Fairview Heights, Ill., Peck was part of a racing family. His daughter, Pam Neff, saddled one winner in seven starts at Detroit Race Course in Livonia, Mich., in 1995, and is married to the Oklahoma-based trainer Roger "Hack" Neff, who is still active. Peck's son, Rod, tried his hand at training as well, winning five races in 42 starts at Ohio's Beulah Park in 1995. Rod Peck would later work as a jockey agent at Fairmount, where he served as a Daily Racing Form correspondent in the early 2000s.
During the peak of Louis Peck's training career, his was a true family operation. Pam was his exercise rider, while Rod was assistant trainer. Not to be left out, LaDonna functioned as bookkeeper and drove the horse trailer, logging thousands of miles over the course of a given season.
Louis Peck's late brother Bobby was also a jockey, and Bobby had a son, Brian, who would ride 1,213 winners – including triumphs in six graded stakes – for career earnings of more than $25.9 million, mostly on the Kentucky circuit. It was at Turfway Park where, on Jan. 13, 1989, Brian Peck was racing on the lead when a deer wandered onto the track and collided with his mount. The horse, Top Booking, emerged from the incident unscathed, while Brian Peck broke his arm after tumbling to the dirt.
Among Louis Peck's survivors are LaDonna, the Neffs, and Rod Peck, and his wife, Terri. Peck is also survived by sisters Billie Jo Larvie, Elsie Meeks, and Cathy Peck.
According to Rod Peck, his father began suffering from dementia in 2006 and was cared for by LaDonna until the day he died. The Pecks believe it was a concussion suffered during a spill at Cahokia Downs in 1975 that triggered his eventual mental deterioration. Donations can therefore be made to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund in Louis Peck's name.
Services for Peck will be held April 1 at the Thomason Cemetery Chapel in Wayne City, Ill., at 10 a.m. A dinner will follow the service at Keenes Baptist Church in Keenes, Ill.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.