Jimmy Picou

January 6, 1934 - July 19, 2019 - Jefferson County, TX

Jimmy Picou was from Port Acres, Texas, and came from a very large family of 16 siblings. He followed his older brother, Clarence, into the professional jockey world and later into the professional thoroughbred horse training industry.

Like his brother, Jimmy had the small stature ideal for a jockey, and he began learning the horse racing business from area farmers and horse owners. Picou started riding horses on his family’s farm as a child and later traveled to racetracks in the late 1940s, hoping to become a professional jockey. He began his racing career with a victory in his first race aboard Miss Maggy at Belmont Park in the autumn of 1949 and went on to win approximately 200 races as a jockey.

In 1954, Picou retired from riding and became an assistant to trainer Walter Kelley. He started his own stable in 1960 and earned his first win as a trainer that same year at Aqueduct Racetrack.

James “Jimmy” Picou went on to become a respected and successful thoroughbred trainer based in New York, competing and winning at Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, and tracks in South Florida. Among his major achievements, he trained a winner of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga and finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby with Mr. Brick.

In 1997, Picou made international headlines when his horse Val’s Prince won the Hong Kong International Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse. Val’s Prince became the first U.S.-based horse to win that prestigious event — and the first American horse to defeat the Emperor’s horse in Hong Kong. Reflecting on the victory, Picou remarked, “Val’s Prince was a great horse. Taking him to Hong Kong and winning was very special.”

Shortly before developing Val’s Prince into one of the nation’s leading turf horses, Picou trained Diplomatic Jet, who captured three Grade I victories in 1996: the Manhattan Handicap, the Man o’ War Stakes, and the Turf Classic Invitational.

Statistics as a Jockey, 1950-1952 (according to American Racing Manual)

Starts (Mounts) Wins 2nd 3rd Horse Earnings

1,083 110 109 118 $359,380

Those 1952 Horse wins in 2022 equal around $ 4 Million

*Jockeys earn 10% of the horse's earnings

Statistics as a Thoroughbred Trainer 1962 through 2004

Starts Firsts Seconds Thirds

6,488 656 867 862

Jimmy Trained over 422 winners.

As a trainer, Jimmy's horses earned $15,067,701*

Those 1962-2004 Horse wins in 2022 equal around $55,000,000

*Trainers generally earned 10% of the horse's or horse owner's earnings