Trainer Jimmy Picou dies at 85

Former trainer James E. “Jimmy” Picou died Friday in Tamarac, Fla. He was 85.

Picou started out as a jockey before later turning to training, a profession his late brother, Clarence, also pursued. Jimmy Picou trained Thoroughbreds for nearly a half-century before retiring in 2004.

According to Equineline statistics kept from 1976 onward, which do not encompass some early years of his career, Picou saddled 422 winners in that span, including 62 stakes winners, for earnings of more than $15 million.

Picou's best runners included Val's Prince, who won the Grade 1 Turf Classic Invitational and the Group 2 Hong Kong International Cup in 1997. Two years later, the gelding repeated in the Turf Classic and added another Grade 1 score in the Man o’ War Stakes. Val’s Prince, who placed in nine other graded stakes, ultimately retired with more than $2.1 million in career earnings.

Picou also conditioned millionaire Diplomatic Jet, a homebred for his prominent client Fred W. Hooper. Diplomatic Jet was a six-time graded stakes winner, including the Grade 1 triple of the Manhattan Stakes, Man o’ War, and Turf Classic Invitational in 1996.

Picou saddled 1981 Travers and Jim Dandy Stakes winner Willow Hour, 1967 Coaching Club American Oaks winner Quillo Queen, and additional Grade 1 winners Fall Aspen and Stub.

Picou is survived by his son Jim Picou and daughters Debbie Markowski and Lisa Picou.

According to Joseph A. Scarano Funeral Home, arrangements are currently private, with a family celebration of life to be planned at a later date.