Obituary

Pierre “Peb” Bellocq – RIP

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D. D. Degg Published: November 13, 2026 1 minute 0 comments

Race horse cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq has passed away.

The horse racing community learned yesterday of the death of its longtime sports cartoonist “Peb.”

From the Daily Racing Form:

“Legendary Daily Racing Form and Morning Telegraph cartoonist Pierre Bellocq, familiarly known as “Peb,” died Thursday morning following a brief illness at the Princeton, New Jersey Medical Center just 13 days short of his 100th birthday.”

“Peb first became noticed by the racing crowd through the efforts of John D. Schapiro, the owner of Laurel Race Course, who commissioned him to create the program cover of the inaugural Washington, D.C. International in the early 1950s. He was soon hired on to become a political cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, run by then-DRF owner Walter Annenberg. Peb soon was creating work for the Form, his first cartoon coinciding with the opening Jamaica Raccetrack in 1955.

“His work over the years captured the unique flavor of the racetrack and racetrackers, infusing his own wry humor and insight. He anthropomorphized horses, caricaturing them with wit and sometimes deep feeling.”

From Bill Finley at Thoroughbred Daily News:

“He also captured the personalities of the people he sketched. Bob Baffert looked confident and just a little bit cooler than everyone else. Jack Van Berg was rough and gruff. Julie Krone was an imp.

“’It’s almost some kind of mystical thing to grasp the inner character of a person,’ [Bellocq] said. ‘It’s hard to explain. Naturally, you want to study the person and try to find out what motivates the person and what their character is and translate that into life. Some people are easy to draw. Some are not.’

“Outside of his cartoons, he was commissioned to paint massive murals that captured the history and culture of racing. His most famous mural was the one that hung inside the clubhouse at Belmont Park. Another public mural, named The “Canvas of Stars,” was commissioned by horse owner Marlene Brody for her Gallagher’s Steak House in New York City, depicting famous people of sport, politics and entertainment who enjoyed the famous restaurant over the years.”

“Concluding a 53-year run at the Daily Racing Form in 2008, Peb he stayed active artistically. Soon thereafter, he became a regular contributor to the Thoroughbred Daily News. After he drew his last cartoon for the TDN, his son Remi followed in his father’s footsteps with witty cartoons that also have an uncanny knack for capturing the true personalities of those he is drawing.”

Eric Mitchell for Blood Horse:

“The magic of Peb’s work was capturing the distinct personalities of trainers and owners and assigning colorful traits to and commentary from prominent racehorses. True to his background as a political cartoonist, he did not avoid sensitive issues, as he did in one cartoon in which a horse chastises his jockey for excessive whipping. “You made your point, Mac,” he says to the rider.

“Bellocq also balanced his portfolio with humor and poignant commentary. In one cartoon, a man is showing off his paddock filled with horses with incredibly long noses, says, “I concentrate on photo-finish breeding.” Then, the artist pulled heartstrings with a saddened Foolish Pleasure in his stall the morning after the Ruffian match race, wearing a Ruffian pin, or a mourning Charismatic leaning on the headstone of the late jockey Chris Antley.”

The official Peb website.