George Cook

When I opened today's Thoroughbred Daily News and saw James on the front page, I assumed it would be a follow-up to Bobby Flay's glowing words about James's talents in the paper last week. It took me a few moments for the actual headline to sink in. For me, James's death marks the passing of my most influential bloodstock mentor. From the time I first started at his Adstock Manor Stud in 1990, James became a father-figure-like fountain of equine knowledge to me. When I moved into a cottage at...