Time has been called on Lebron. Not the world’s best basketball player and current NBA superstar LeBron James from Akron, Ohio – it’s his namesake, the talented harness racing standardbred. A pacer that provided plenty of slam dunk and explosive performances on his court – the racetrack!
His hard running, free-wheeling style of racing made sure he was a fan favourite.
Connections have the made the decision to retire their perennial performer following his most recent start at Albion Park on July 12.
Fittingly, he goes out as a winner.
“I’ve been thinking about when the right time would be to announce his retirement, it’s something I’ve thought about for a number of months. The fact he won at Albion Park last month made the decision much easier, he deserves an ending like that because he’s such a warrior.” Trainer Brian McCall said.
A graduate of the Australian Pacing Gold and purchased by Brisbane based builder Sam DiFrancesco, Lebron eventually headed north to the sunshine state.
With work commitments keeping him occupied, Lebron was switched to the stables of McCall for further education and experience.
As time went by, McCall continued to ply his trade with the young and gangly pacer who showed some of the family’s rich ability.
A gelded son of Jennas Beach Boy from the Armbro Operative mare Full Pleasure, Lebron was the third foal from the mare that produced Tiger Island (7 wins – $38k) and then star mare Kept For Pleasure (19 wins – $542k).
Others siblings that followed included Its My Pleasure (14 wins – $142k), Don Boston (14 wins – $86k), Nowitzki (11 wins – $233k), Lagoon Beach (5 wins – $34k) and Egodan (10 wins – $87k).
It was obvious that Lebron was going to need time; he needed to mature and grow into his big and somewhat awkward frame.
Eventually, a lease deal was struck between DiFrancesco and McCall’s partner, Rachel Beaton.
He went unraced as a two-year-old.
His debut came at Redcliffe in November, 2008 where he was unplaced.
But McCall persisted and things started to turn overtime.
That persistency was paid on January 11, 2010 when Lebron landed his maiden success at Redcliffe with McCall taking the winning drive himself.
With the bulk of his early racing staged on the triangular like shape track of Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, visits to the main track of Albion Park were quite rare.
But McCall knew that the bigger spaces at the spiritual home of Queensland harness racing would come, and he was prepared to wait.
Lebron would win 8 races at Redcliffe.
His first win at headquarters didn’t come until September 1, 2011 when he scored over the 2138m in a time of 2:00.3.
It would become the first of many but interestingly, it would be his only victory at that distance range at Albion Park with all other victories over the sprint trip of 1660m.
With time, Lebron only got faster and stronger and established himself as one of the best short-course pacers in the state.
Lebron would contest a raft of feature events at Albion Park including the Queensland Pacing Championship, Sunshine Sprint, Be Good Johnny Sprint and Wondais Mate.
In total, Lebron would win 18 races at Albion Park at the distance of 1660m.
“My best memory of him winning was the night at Albion Park he got hammered in front by Devil Dodger and then fought off the likes of Lanercost and Destreos in a mile of 1:54. He took some good scalps during his time and always tried his heart out, it was unfortunate in some of those bigger races he didn’t have much luck in running or barrier draws.
“He’s a horse that means so much to Rachel and me, we love him to death and he’s constantly spoiled. He can get cranky at times and will strike and bite but normally those times are few and far between. Like most, he’s battled with niggling issues but we’ve managed it and kept him going because he really enjoyed racing.”
A number of drivers had the pleasure of sitting behind Lebron during his career including Pete McMullen, Gary Whitaker, Hayden Barnes, Rob Gorman, Dean Belford, Kelli Dawson, Ray Law, Bart Cockburn, Amanda Turnbull and McCall himself.
McMullen handled him in 15 victories.
Lebron Fact File;
168 starts
30 wins
40 seconds
20 thirds
Prizemoney – $250,550
Fastest time – 1:52.9
Thanks for the memories, we salute you!
by Chris Barsby