Gus Koch

by Matt Koch Editor's Note: In honor of Veterans Day and the 247th birthday of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), celebrated Nov. 11 and Nov. 10, respectively, we are honored to share this story from USMC Captain Matt Koch of Shawhan Place, a second-generation Marine following his father, longtime Claiborne Farm manager Robert "Gus" Koch. Matt, who will be honored next month as the 2022 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC), is also the state representative of the 72nd district...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC) has chosen Shawhan Place's Matthew Koch as the 2022 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year. The honor is given annually to a farm manager "who has demonstrated quality and success in their management role; service to the community; involvement in the KTFMC; and industry leadership and dedication." "I am thrilled to hear Matthew has won this prestigious award," said Teddy Kuster, co-owner of Shawhan Place and the 1986 KTFMC Farm Manager of the Year. "The club has meant a lot to Matt's...

Robert "Gus" Koch, died Saturday, March 20, 2021, at his beloved Mt. Carmel Farm, after a 24-year battle with cancer. He was 74. The retired longtime manager of Claiborne Farm, Koch was a Marine and a Vietnam veteran. Koch was the subject of one of the TDN and Keeneland's Life's Work Oral History project, and Chris McGrath's story on him may be read here. Hired when Seth Hancock took the reins at the farm, Koch was at the helm at Claiborne for 31 years, running perhaps the best lineup of...

TDN is proud to partner with the Keeneland Library and the Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries in a very special collaboration: the Keeneland 'Life's Work' Oral History Project, a series of filmed interviews by TDN columnist Chris McGrath with significant figures in the Thoroughbred industry. The current installment, with Gus Koch of Claiborne Farm, appears here. Legends, to you and me. Immortals, paragons. But to Gus Koch, they were the flesh-and-blood companions of his daily toil: some were cherished friends; others, just a pain...