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Hey Byrn

Post Position 13

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Unable to make the Kentucky Derby field because of a lack of graded stakes earnings, this son of Put It Back will be sent to Pimlico to take a second shot at defeating Derby winner Big Brown.     Hey Byrn, named by owner Beatrice Oxenberg for her late husband, Bernard, finished fourth in Big Brown’s Florida Derby, 15 3/4 lengths behind the winner. The bay colt came back two weeks later to win the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes in his most recent start.

TRAINER - Eddie Plesa, Jr., originally from Seattle, Washington, now resides in Plantation, Florida.     The trainer has followed in the footsteps of his father as far as training horses goes. The elder Plesa was a leading jockey in Detroit and Cleveland while Plesa was growing up. The father began training in the 1960s and moved permanently to Florida when Calder Race Course opened in 1971, becoming the private trainer for the legendary Fred Hooper.     Eddie Jr. worked for his father and also apprenticed under Stanley Hough and at Harbor View Farms in Ocala, Fla. He took a one-year hiatus from training to work in the racing office at Hialeah Park before opening a public stable in 1986.     Plesa has been a consistent top-ranking trainer at Calder for more than 20 years, ranking fourth all-time in victories at the track. He was inducted into the Calder Hall of Fame in September 2006.     He led the trainer standings three times at Calder’s Tropical Park meet and was runner-up in the Gulfstream Park standings in 1997.His stable routinely chalks up at least $1 million in annual purse earnings.     Perhaps his best horse was Three Ring, who finished third in the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and ran in the 1999 Kentucky Derby, where she was competitive early but faded to last. Even so, that year she won the Davona Dale, Bonnie Miss and Acorn stakes, but tragedy struck in the Mother Goose Stakes when she flipped over backwards in the paddock and fractured her skull.     In Hey Byrn, owned by longtime client Bea Oxenberg and named for her late husband, Plesa hopes to send his second starter to the Derby gate. That depends on whether the Holy Bull Stakes winner has enough graded earnings to get into the field.     Plesa nursed injury-prone Best of the Rest through a career covering 13 stakes wins and purse earnings of $1.4 million. Among the victories were two editions of the Spend A Buck Handicap, consecutive runnings of the Carl G. Rose Classic of Florida Millions and the inaugural Sunshine Millions Classic in 2003.     Also in 2003, Plesa become only the third trainer to sweep the Florida Stallion Stakes series with multiple horses when Snow Lady and Adhrhythm won the three legs of the filly division. Overall, his 11 victories in the series are second to Frank Gomez. Other stakes winners for Plesa include J J’sdream, Sara’s Success, Donthelumbertrader, Sejm’s Madness, Miami Slick, Without Feathers and Wander Mom.

JOCKEY - Chuck C. Lopez was born on August 4, 1960 in Brooklyn, N.Y. now resides in Morganville, N.J.      The son of a long time and now retired jockey Carlos Lopez, Chuck Lopez has had 137 wins from 924 mounts and earnings of $5,429,103 up to December 31, 2007.       Top mounts in 2007 have included Gottcha Gold (G3 Philip H. Iselin Breeders' Cup, G3 Salvator Mile); Five Strips (Formal Gold S.); Fagedaboudit Sal (Lincroft H., Bernie Dowd H.); Wildeyed Dreamer (Longfellow S.) and Safe Play (My Frenchman S.).       The son of longtime New Jersey rider Carlos Lopez, Chuck began his career at Keystone Park, earning his first career win aboard Foolish Tracy on January 15, 1979.  That year While still an apprentice, he was the leading rider at the Meadowlands.       He rode Gottcha Gold to a second-place finish in the 2007 Dirt Mile, his only Breeders'Cup mount.       Earned his first graded stakes victory in the 1994 Lamplighter Stakes at Monmouth Park aboard Mr. Impatience.       Earned his first Monmouth Park riding title in 1998.  He has been leading rider at Meadowlands twice.       Top horses include Valid Video, Gators N Bears and La Reason.       Rode his 3,000th winner on January 22, 2004, aboard Sunnyridge Sam at Aqueduct.       Third generation of Lopez’s hit the track in 2005 when Chuck's son Erick became an apprentice rider.

OWNER - Beatrice Oxenberg is the listed owner of Hey Byrn.     She named the horse after her late husband, Bernard, who operated the largest smoked fish in this country.     The horse brought $60,000 at an Ocala Breeders’ Sale.     After not making the Kentucky Derby field because of a lack of graded stakes earnings, Hey Byrn will bring the owner to Baltimore, where she’ll be joined by family members living in the Baltimore area as her colt contests Pimlico’s signature race.

BREEDER - The late Arthur I. Appleton bred Hey Byrn at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. Appleton was born Oct. 14, 1915 in Chicago, and he died at his home in Ocala on Jan. 15 this year.     He was a graduate of Dartmouth College with a business degree. He became president and chairman of the board of Appleton Electric in 1957 at age 42. The company was sold to Emerson Electric in 1982. Appleton was an inventor of note, acquiring more than 150 patents on different types of electrical systems and switch boxes.     Appleton was introduced to Thoroughbred racing while attending races at Arlington Park with his father, Edgar. The Appleton family also had a home in South Florida and they would attend the races at Gulfstream Park and Hialeah. The family later owned an interest in both racetracks.     The family sold its interests in the tracks later, but Arthur Appleton continued to serve on Gulfstream Park’s advisory board for many years.     Appleton had entered the business as an owner in the 1960s.     Appleton bought the first 500 acres of his Ocala-based Bridlewood Farm in 1977, and it grew over the years to 960 acres. George Isaacs has managed the farm since 1996. Appleton had bred and/or raced nearly 100 stakes winners and was named Florida Breeder of the Year for 1991. Among his best horses bred and/or raced are David Junior, Jolie’s Halo, Super Nakayama, Forbidden Apple, Southern Image, Smokey Stover, Icy Atlantic and In Summation.