by Frank Angst

Lil E. Tee, who scored a victory popular with local fans in the 1992 Kentucky Derby, died on March 18.

The 20-year-old stallion, who stood his entire career at Old Frankfort Stud in Lexington, was euthanized after a bout with colic.

Jim Plemmons, owner of Old Frankfort Stud, said Lil E. Tee recently underwent surgery for colic and seemed to be doing well for about a month before he suffered another onset this month.

“We didn’t want him to suffer,” Plemmons said. “We were fortunate to have him as long as we did.”

In the book The Longest Shot: Lil E. Tee and the Kentucky Derby, author John Eisenberg chronicles the ground-breaking stomach and intestinal surgery that Lil E. Tee underwent as a yearling. That surgery saved the young colt’s life, allowed him to race, and helped him live a long life after racing. He had been the third-oldest currently living Derby winner.

Lil E. Tee has been buried at Old Frankfort Stud and Plemmons said his stall would be left open until another special horse arrives.

“It’s been difficult driving into the farm and not seeing him,” Plemmons said. “Sometimes I look twice because I expect to see him in the paddock. He’s our first stallion and he’ll always be special.”

Lil E. Tee’s death came just days before this year’s edition of a Derby prep race he helped put on the map: the Lane’s End Stakes (G2) at Turfway Park. Called the Jim Beam Stakes (G2) in 1992, Lil E. Tee became the first, and to this point only, winner of that race to go on to win the Derby.

After winning the Jim Beam, Lil E. Tee finished second in the Arkansas Derby (G2), a neck behind Pine Bluff, who went on to finish fourth in the Derby.

“Sometimes I think he’s overlooked a bit because so much about that Derby has been about Arazi coming up short as the favorite and the injury to A.P. Indy that kept him out of the race,” Plemmons said. “But I think when you look at his entire career, he proved that his Derby win was no fluke.”

While Lil E. Tee’s 16.80-to-1 Derby odds would not necessarily suggest it, his victory was popular with fans in the Bluegrass. Not only had Lil E. Tee prepped in the Jim Beam, his Derby win marked the only Derby victory for Racing Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day, Churchill’s all-time leading rider.

Trained by Lynn Whiting for owner Cal Partee, Lil E. Tee won seven of 13 starts and earned $1,437,506 in three seasons of racing. He was bred in Pennsylvania by Larry Littman. The only time Lil E. Tee finished off the board was in the Preakness Stakes (G1), in which he finished fifth and subsequently was rested for the rest of the year after developing a bone chip.

Lil E. Tee came back at four to win a six-furlong allowance race in 1:08.44 before taking the Razorback Handicap (G2) at Oaklawn Park. He finished second to Jovial (GB) in the final race of his career, the Oaklawn Handicap (G1).

“Pat Day told me that before he was retired they thought the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) would be an option if they didn’t go in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1),” Plemmons said. “There aren’t many horses versatile enough to win at a mile and a quarter or six furlongs.”

The only currently living Derby winners older than Lil E. Tee are 25-year-old pensioned sire Alysheba, who lives at the Kentucky Horse Park, and 21-year-old Strike the Gold, who stands in Turkey.

As a stallion, 50% of Lil E. Tee’s foals of racing age have won races. He is the sire of 20 stakes winners, including 1999 Oak Tree Derby (G2) winner Mula Gula and '99 Southwest Stakes (G3) winner Jim’smrtee. Lil E. Tee began his stallion career in 1994, standing for $7,500. He had stood for a private fee since 2002.

Lil E. Tee has two foals this year, both colts, one of which is owned by Plemmons.

Frank Angst is senior writer for Thoroughbred Times