Tag: Larry Melancon

The `Good’ Larry Melancon

Back in the days when I was in high school, I would work in the racing office at Jefferson Downs in the mornings as an entry clerk. This was before the days of computerized databases and electronically keyed-in entries. Entry blanks were bound by red glue as thick pads and filled out in pencil. Each form filled out one by one, as the jockey agents and trainers drifted into the racing office to do business. Entries were made in individual stalls for privacy and usually in a hushed tone so no one could overhear the potential competitors filling the races offered for the race day to be carded several days later.

The jockey agents were a cast of Runyon-esque all-stars. “Sad Sal the Horseman's Pal” who had spent time in “Mandeville”…the mental hospital, Roland “Buck Eye” Dagrepoint, Lloyd L. “Cuz” Nixon, John Giambelluca, along with others would keep things lively as they entered trainers' horses for the day after securing calls for their riders. Some of the trainers would enter their own. There are hundreds of stories about those guys and those days, but the one for today begins in those days and came to a close Mar. 25, 2021.

In the 1970s, there were two Larry Melancons riding at Jefferson Downs during the summer race meetings. As an entry clerk, it was a problem because inevitably there would be confusion. As things went, the disclaimer to distinguish between the two by whomever was entering was to signify the “good” Larry Melancon or just plain Larry Melancon. The “good” Larry Melancon had already made a mark as not only a talented rider destined for bigger things, but as truly a good person in how he interacted in his life.

The “good” Larry made a step up in his career by the end of the 1970s and rode mostly on the Midwest circuit. He rode at Fair Grounds in the winter, Oaklawn, Keeneland and Churchill Downs in the spring and Arlington Park in the summer. He became a fixture at Churchill Downs riding in four Kentucky Derbies with his best finish a fourth place in 1976 on Amano. He became a valued contributor in the development of many top horses for various trainers through providing accurate insight of soundness and fitness during morning workouts.

Truthfully, I had lost track of Larry in the 1980s when he was having some of his best success. He was always a low-key guy and I was following my life path. We closed Jefferson Downs in the fall of 1992 and by then Vickie and I were fully involved in Fair Grounds. My days didn't allow me to get to the jocks' room very often, and for whatever reason Larry and I didn't connect again until after the 1993 Fair Grounds fire and reopening of the new building in 1997.

When the new Fair Grounds building opened, I did make almost daily passes throughout the building, checking on what needed to be addressed with the new building. This brought me back into contact with Larry. He would sit in the silks room to start his race day and read the Bible. The other jocks bought him a rocking chair since he had become a senior member of the colony. He would gently rock, read and visit with whoever drifted into the room. Class guy through and through.

Vickie and I had some young homebreds in 1997. One strapping colt was named Coach Rags named after an old friend, an iconic baseball coach in New Orleans. He was a big horse and was a bit slow to develop. He broke his maiden in the spring of 1996. Rags was still pretty green when we entered in the Gentilly H., but he was well meant and was the favorite. We had high expectations. To say the least, we were a bit disappointed when Rags was a clearly beaten second to a horse named Kazliv. After regrouping, and processing what had just happened, I had to smile.

The betting public threw Kazliv out in their consideration because his form didn't quite fit the competition and his trainer, Winona Champagne, had never won a stakes race. Winona had recently recovered from cancer, and the win in the Gentilly was a tremendous lift for her. The only prouder member of the winner's circle picture was the jockey, her son, Larry Melancon. When Larry recounted his fondest memories in racing at the time of his retirement as a rider, he spoke of the mounts on Rapid Gray, Weekend Surprise and Guided Tour, but the win he was proudest of was Kazliv in the Gentilly H. for his mom. Rags went on to be a multiple stakes winner for us over several years.

In March 2002, we had a nice homebred filly named You'llbeinmyheart. She had won her first three races and looked to be special. The last spot for her to run at Fair Grounds before the close of the race meeting was the Gentilly H. against the boys. We lost our rider to another commitment and needed a replacement. As fate would have it, Larry was available and we were happy to have him. She broke on the lead and Larry throttled her down to make an honest pace for the mile on the turf challenge. When the pack came to her at the head of the lane, he released his cross and turned the whip. She drew off again to win by two lengths. This was a sweet win. You'llbeinmyheart's win complimented what turned out to be Coach Rags's last stakes win in the Dixie Poker Ace S. earlier in March under Shane Sellers's handling.

By 2006, Vickie and I were winding down our horse operation. Our filly Blueyed Lass was foaled out of Coach Rags's half-sister and by Rags's sire, Sky Classic. She was a late bloomer, just like Rags. She had been stakes-placed but had no stakes wins leading up to the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies S. of 2006. Once again, we were happy to secure the services of Larry to ride what would be our last stakes win as owners before we disbanded our stable that year.

I would see Larry in the years after, crossing paths with him with Al Stall, Jr. as an assistant or with Pat Day in his role with Pat's ministry. He had suffered a stroke in 2017, but fought through the effects to continue to maintain a presence in racing.

All but one of these races over the span of years at Fair Grounds were in the month of March. So to me, it was not without irony, in the month of March in early spring which had provided so many pleasant memories, Larry passed away. Perhaps the last win in December foretold more than we knew.

Everyone in racing will really miss the “good” Larry Melancon.

Bryan Krantz is the former owner of Jefferson Downs and Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, and a lifelong Thoroughbred owner and breeder. He is currently a real estate developer and investor in southern Louisiana, and is a perpetual racetrack storyteller. 

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‘Courage Personified’: Remembering Late Jockey Larry Melancon

Larry Melancon might not have been the top jockey at Churchill Downs during his long career, though he ranks among the winningest riders at the historic Louisville track even a decade after his retirement.

But no Churchill Downs jockey can match the resilience and longevity of Melancon, whose tenure of riding full-time under the Twin Spires for 36 consecutive years is unprecedented. Melancon, whose first official race was in 1971, arrived at Churchill Downs for the 1974 spring session. Up through his retirement on July 4, 2010 at Churchill Downs, the jockey had won at least one race per meet with the exception of the three he did not ride: fall of 1974, spring of 1979 and spring of 1993, when he fractured three ribs at Keeneland.

Melancon died at age 65 Thursday morning with his wife of seven years, Denise Hasher Melancon, at his side in their Louisville home. The former jockey succumbed to complications from the debilitating stroke he suffered four years ago.

“It's a personal loss. Larry was a very close friend and we worked together for a lot of years, going back probably as long as we can both remember,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “He was a good man and well-liked throughout the racing community. He was respected by a lot of horsemen, and a lot of good horsemen, like Lynn Whiting. There were a lot of people who liked to have Larry on their team because he had such a good opinion of a horse. Riding, he'd always give you a good effort, and we had a lot of great outcomes.”

Melancon totaled 2,857 victories and more than $60 million in purse earnings through his 38 years riding. When he retired, his 914 wins at Churchill Downs ranked No. 3 all-time, with his 47 stakes victories ranking fourth. Even 11 years later, Melancon still ranks seventh in both categories.

“He was a fixture at Churchill Downs,” said jockey, friend and fellow Cajun product Robby Albarado, who in his first career race in 1990 back in their native Louisiana used one of Melancon's old saddles. “He showed up every day and did his job.”

Melancon was at Churchill Downs before the track's legendary all-time win leader Pat Day arrived. He rode an additional five years after his good friend and long-time rival retired in 2005.

Day ruled the roost at Churchill Downs in the 1980s and 1990s. Melancon rode for many of the same outfits and didn't get a lot of the top assignments in the afternoon unless Day was out of town. But he had a long and successful career making the best of his opportunities at the races. And Day is among the first to acknowledge that Melancon was the better choice to put on a horse in the morning.

“He was one of the best all-around horsemen that I've been around,” Day said. “Very proficient rider, but he understood the condition book. He understood horses. I was a good jockey. I wasn't what I'd call an all-around horseman like he was.

“It used to aggravate him. We'd sit down and start talking, and he'd say, 'Do you know if Lynn is going to run that horse back in the 'non-winners of two?' I'd say, 'Larry, I don't have a clue.' That was my agent's business. Larry knew everything. He'd seen the horse run.”

Mott recalled Melancon working Taylor's Special before the eventual 1984 Louisiana Derby and Blue Grass Stakes winner ever ran. After the work, Melancon simply told the trainer, 'Well, when you run him, just go get your coat and tie on.'”

Retired trainer Don Winfree referred to Melancon as the “real good mechanic” everyone wants to have.

“He could get on a horse, and if you had a little problem, he could help you pinpoint it,” he said. “For years I had a lot of young horses who hadn't started, were coming along. Larry was kind of my test pilot to help me value them before we'd make a start. I used to like to bet on the first-time starters. He'd say, 'Don, this horse can win for $30,000' or 'This horse can win for $50,000.' I told him, 'Larry, I don't want to know what he can win for. I want to know what he can't lose for.' Larry was a dear friend. We used to hunt and fish together, and he was the ultimate professional. Another good one gone.”

Every trainer who rode Melancon seems to have a similar story.

“He was unbelievably good in the morning,” said Al Stall Jr., for whom Melancon worked after he retired from race-riding. “If a horse breezed well, he'd say, 'Get the condition book out.' I didn't need to hear any details such as 'he switched leads' or 'he finished up strong.' When he said 'get the condition book out,' that means everything was ready to go. He was generally right. He rode a nice, patient race and was thoughtful early in a race and had a very strong finish.”

Beyond Melancon's skill with horses, Stall noted how people naturally gravitated to him, recalling a special summer when the former jockey went up with him to Saratoga in 2012.

“We had a really good time,” Stall said, adding of the current president of Claiborne Farm, “Walker Hancock was just a hotwalker, feeling his way up the ranks. Walker would bring all these young guys, his friends, around the barn. They just loved Larry. At night we'd all go to someone's house and Larry would cook Cajun food. Those kids were just in heaven. They thought Larry was like king of the world. Because he was funny — and he could cook.”

Melancon was a quiet leader by example on and off the track, including helping young riders. He and Day united with then-trainer and current WinStar Farm president Elliott Walden and former trainer Bill Million to get Churchill Downs' first full-time chaplain. The quartet subsequently worked to raise the money to build the backstretch chapel.

“He was a brother in the Lord,” Day said. “Larry was instrumental in the chaplaincy as we know it. And a fierce competitor on the racetrack.”

Melancon's mother, the late Winona Champagne, was a trainer. He grew up near Lafayette, La., in Breaux Bridge, the self-proclaimed Crawfish Capital of the World. Long before he was old enough to legally ride at a sanctioned track such as nearby Evangeline Downs, Melancon from the time he was 9 rode match races at the bush tracks around the Acadiana region, the cradle of so many talented American-born jockeys.

Sheila Day, Pat Day's wife, grew up in the area and knew Melancon since she was 6.

“The next step was to get into the 'big-time,' Evangeline Downs,” she said. “And he made Churchill Downs. Young people respected that Larry was able to climb those heights, to get to Churchill Downs. His family was very respected in the area. His legacy is going to live on for a long time.”

Melancon won 43 graded stakes, including Keeneland's Grade 1 Blue Grass on Bachelor Beau for trainer Phil Hauswald in 1986. He captured four Grade 2 stakes, including Churchill Downs' Stephen Foster, on the Niall O'Callaghan-trained Guided Tour. Melancon rode in the Kentucky Derby four times, his best finish being fourth on Amano in 1976.

He won Oaklawn Park's 1997 Rebel Stakes on the Whiting-trained Phantom On Tour, finishing second by a half-length in the Arkansas Derby. While Jerry Bailey was aboard for the horse's sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, Melancon the next year won the New Orleans Handicap on Phantom On Tour with his mother in attendance. Albarado said that win photo, prominently displayed in the Melancons' house, was his friend's favorite victory.

Melancon remained involved with the track after his retirement, galloping horses and helping out Stall and working as jockey Calvin Borel's agent. When he married Denise seven years ago, the couple began traveling and engaging in outdoors pursuits. With no warning symptoms, he suffered a stroke when the couple were in North Carolina to hike part of the Appalachian Trail.

“Larry was a very good rider and even better person who was courage personified in the face of great personal adversity,” said Caton Bredar, the racing broadcaster and a family friend.

Even last August the Melancons found a way to go fishing out on Lake Huron in Michigan, which proved Larry's last trip. Denise Melancon said her husband continued to greatly looked forward to the regular Monday night potluck dinners they'd have over with Dallas Stewart, the trainer getting a ramp for his house to accommodate Larry's wheelchair.

Melancon's health had deteriorated in recent months, with her son, Keelan Allen, and Albarado's son Kaden providing immeasurable assistance in his care with kindness, gentleness and compassion, Denise Melancon said.

“He was at home, went peacefully, for which I'm very grateful,” she said. “Everybody loved him. He never had a cross word and was so giving to people. We still did a lot after the stroke. I said, 'You are not going to be a victim of circumstances.' And we lived life.”

Said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson: “The Churchill Downs family is deeply saddened to learn the news of former jockey Larry Melancon's passing. Larry was amongst the winningest jockeys in Churchill Downs history and was known for his skilled horsemanship. More importantly, Larry was a class-act who was always willing to lend a helping hand. He will be greatly missed. Our condolences go out to his numerous friends and family during this difficult time.”

Melancon was preceded in death by mother Winona Champagne and father Vermillian Melancon. In addition to his wife, Melancon is survived by son Lance Melancon, Louisville; daughter Heather Schapansky, Tyler, Texas; stepson Keelan Allen, Annapolis, Md.; sisters Judy Theriot and Vickie Guchereau; and grandchildren Caleb and Nathan Schapansky and Lawrence Melancon.

Newcomer Funeral Home-East Louisville handled arrangements. Denise Melancon said her husband's ashes will join his mother in Breaux Bridge. No public service is scheduled, per the jockey's request. The family suggests memorial gifts go to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, 40 E. 52nd Street, New York, N.Y., 10022, or the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, Ill, 60126.

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Larry Melancon: A Remembrance

LOUISVILLE, Ky.–Larry Melancon might not have been the top jockey at Churchill Downs during his long career, though he ranks among the winningest riders at the historic Louisville track even a decade after his retirement.

But no Churchill Downs jockey can match the resilience and longevity of Melancon, whose tenure of riding full-time under the Twin Spires for 36 consecutive years is unprecedented. Melancon, whose first official race was in 1971, arrived at Churchill Downs for the 1974 spring session. Up through his retirement on July 4, 2010 at Churchill Downs, the jockey had won at least one race per meet with the exception of the three he did not ride: fall of 1974, spring of 1979 and spring of 1993, when he fractured three ribs at Keeneland.

Melancon died at age 65 Thursday morning with his wife of seven years, Denise Hasher Melancon, at his side in their Louisville home. The former jockey succumbed to complications from the debilitating stroke he suffered four years ago.

“It's a personal loss. Larry was a very close friend and we worked together for a lot of years, going back probably as long as we can both remember,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “He was a good man and well-liked throughout the racing community. He was respected by a lot of horsemen, and a lot of good horsemen, like Lynn Whiting. There were a lot of people who liked to have Larry on their team because he had such a good opinion of a horse. Riding, he'd always give you a good effort, and we had a lot of great outcomes.”

Melancon totaled 2,857 victories and more than $60 million in purse earnings through his 38 years riding. When he retired, his 914 wins at Churchill Downs ranked No. 3 all-time, with his 47 stakes victories ranking fourth. Even 11 years later, Melancon still ranks seventh in both categories.

Larry Melancon at Churchill downs on his first morning as a jockey agent for Calvin Borel | Courier Journal

“He was a fixture at Churchill Downs,” said jockey, friend and fellow Cajun product Robby Albarado, who in his first career race in 1990 back in their native Louisiana used one of Melancon's old saddles. “He showed up every day and did his job.”

Melancon was at Churchill Downs before the track's legendary all-time win leader Pat Day arrived. He rode an additional five years after his good friend and long-time rival retired in 2005.

Day ruled the roost at Churchill Downs in the 1980s and 1990s. Melancon rode for many of the same outfits and didn't get a lot of the top assignments in the afternoon unless Day was out of town. But he had a long and successful career making the best of his opportunities at the races. And Day is among the first to acknowledge that Melancon was the better choice to put on a horse in the morning.

“He was one of the best all-around horsemen that I've been around,” Day said. “Very proficient rider, but he understood the condition book. He understood horses. I was a good jockey. I wasn't what I'd call an all-around horsemen like he was.

“It used to aggravate him. We'd sit down and start talking, and he'd say, 'Do you know if Lynn is going to run that horse back in the 'non-winners of two?' I'd say, 'Larry, I don't have a clue.' That was my agent's business. Larry knew everything. He'd seen the horse run.”

Mott recalled Melancon working Taylor's Special before the eventual 1984 Louisiana Derby and Blue Grass Stakes winner ever ran. After the work, Melancon simply told the trainer, 'Well, when you run him, just go get your coat and tie on.'”

Retired trainer Don Winfree referred to Melancon as the “real good mechanic” everyone wants to have.

“He could get on a horse, and if you had a little problem, he could help you pinpoint it,” he said. “For years I had a lot of young horses who hadn't started, were coming along. Larry was kind of my test pilot to help me value them before we'd make a start. I used to like to bet on the first-time starters. He'd say, 'Don, this horse can win for $30,000' or 'This horse can win for $50,000.' I told him, 'Larry, I don't want to know what he can win for. I want to know what he can't lose for.' Larry was a dear friend. We used to hunt and fish together, and he was the ultimate professional. Another good one gone.”

Every trainer who rode Melancon seems to have a similar story.

“He was unbelievably good in the morning,” said Al Stall Jr., for whom Melancon worked after he retired from race-riding. “If a horse breezed well, he'd say, 'Get the condition book out.' I didn't need to hear any details such as 'he switched leads' or 'he finished up strong.' When he said 'get the condition book out,' that means everything was ready to go. He was generally right. He rode a nice, patient race and was thoughtful early in a race and had a very strong finish.”

Beyond Melancon's skill with horses, Stall noted how people naturally gravitated to him, recalling a special summer when the former jockey went up with him to Saratoga in 2012.

“We had a really good time,” Stall said, adding of the current president of Claiborne Farm, “Walker Hancock was just a hotwalker, feeling his way up the ranks. Walker would bring all these young guys, his friends, around the barn. They just loved Larry. At night we'd all go to someone's house and Larry would cook Cajun food. Those kids were just in heaven. They thought Larry was like king of the world. Because he was funny–and he could cook.”

Larry and Denise Melancon | courtesy Denise Melancon

Melancon was a quiet leader by example on and off the track, including helping young riders. He and Day united with then-trainer and current WinStar Farm president Elliott Walden and former trainer Bill Million to get Churchill Downs's first full-time chaplain. The quartet subsequently worked to raise the money to build the backstretch chapel.

“He was a brother in the Lord,” Day said. “Larry was instrumental in the chaplaincy as we know it. And a fierce competitor on the racetrack.”

Melancon's mother, the late Winona Champagne, was a trainer. He grew up near Lafayette, La., in Breaux Bridge, the self-proclaimed Crawfish Capital of the World. Long before he was old enough to legally ride at a sanctioned track like nearby Evangeline Downs, Melancon, from the time he was nine, rode match races at the bush tracks around the Acadiana region, the cradle of so many talented American-born jockeys.

Sheila Day, Pat Day's wife, grew up in the area and knew Melancon since she was 6. “The next step was to get into the 'big-time,' Evangeline Downs,” she said. “And he made Churchill Downs. Young people respected that Larry was able to climb those heights, to get to Churchill Downs. His family was very respected in the area. His legacy is going to live on for a long time.”

Melancon won 43 graded stakes, including Keeneland's Grade I Blue Grass on Bachelor Beau for trainer Phil Hauswald in 1986. He captured four Grade II stakes, including Churchill Downs' Stephen Foster, on the Niall O'Callaghan-trained Guided Tour. Melancon rode in the Kentucky Derby four times, his best finish being fourth on Amano in 1976.

He won Oaklawn Park's 1997 Rebel Stakes on the Whiting-trained Phantom On Tour, finishing second by a half-length in the Arkansas Derby. While Jerry Bailey was aboard for the horse's sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, Melancon the next year won the New Orleans Handicap on Phantom On Tour with his mother in attendance. Albarado said that win photo, prominently displayed in the Melancons' house, was his friend's favorite victory.

Melancon remained involved with the track after his retirement, galloping horses and helping out Stall and working as jockey Calvin Borel's agent. When he married Denise seven years ago, the couple began traveling and engaging in outdoors pursuits. With no warning symptoms, he suffered a stroke when the couple were in North Carolina to hike part of the Appalachian Trail.

“Larry was a very good rider and even better person who was courage personified in the face of great personal adversity,” said racing broadcaster Caton Bredar, a family friend.

Even last August the Melancons found a way to go fishing out on Lake Huron in Michigan, which proved to be Larry's last trip. Denise Melancon said her husband continued to greatly look forward to the regular Monday night potluck dinners they'd have over with Dallas Stewart, the trainer getting a ramp for his house to accommodate Larry's wheelchair.

Melancon's health had deteriorated in recent months, with her son, Keelan Allen, and Albarado's son Kaden providing immeasurable assistance in his care with kindness, gentleness and compassion, Denise Melancon said.

“He was at home, went peacefully, for which I'm very grateful,” she said. “Everybody loved him. He never had a cross word and was so giving to people. We still did a lot after the stroke. I said, 'You are not going to be a victim of circumstances.' And we lived life.”

Melancon was preceded in death by mother Winona Champagne and father Vermillian Melancon. In addition to his wife, Melancon is survived by son Lance Melancon, Louisville; daughter Heather Schapansky, Tyler, Texas; stepson Keelan Allen, Annapolis, Md.; sisters Judy Theriot and Vickie Guchereau; and grandchildren Caleb and Nathan Schapansky and Lawrence Melancon.

Denise Melancon said her husband's ashes will join his mother in Breaux Bridge. No public service is scheduled, per the jockey's request. The family suggests memorial gifts go to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, 40 E. 52nd Street, New York, N.Y., 10022, or the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, Ill, 60126.

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Jockey Larry Melancon Passes Away

Former Jockey Larry Melancon passed away Thursday at his home in Louisville at age 65. He won 2,857 races with 43 of those being graded stakes with earnings of $60,629,774.

He was seventh in all-time Churchill Downs win with 914 and stakes wins at the oval with 47. Melancon's top victory came aboard Bachelor Beau in the 1986 GI Blue Grass S.

“The Churchill Downs family is deeply saddened to learn the news of former jockey Larry Melancon's passing,” Churchill Downs President Mike Anderson said. “Larry was amongst the winningest jockeys in Churchill Downs history and was known for his skilled horsemanship. More importantly, Larry was a class-act who was always willing to lend a helping hand. He will be greatly missed. Our condolences go out to his numerous friends and family during this difficult time.”

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