obituary

Delta Blues (Jpn), who made history by becoming the first Japanese horse to win the Melbourne Cup, has died at the age of 24. Old Friends Japan, where the gelding had lived out his later years of retirement, announced on Wednesday that he had "died due to complications from laminitis". The Northern Farm-bred son of Dance In The Dark (Jpn) was trained by Katsuhiko Sumii and landed his first major win in his home country in the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) of 2004. He was also third behind...

Champion and dual Hall of Famer Tepin (Bernstein--Life Happened, by Stravinsky), best known for winning the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, died at the age of 12. The news was confirmed by trainer Aidan O'Brien after the mare's daughter Grateful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) won the G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu at ParisLongchamp on Saturday. Bred by Machmer Hall in Kentucky, the bay was purchased by Robert Masterson for $140,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. She would go on to be trained by Mark...

National Hunt stallion Triple Threat (Fr) sustained a mortal injury in his paddock, Capital Stud announced on Wednesday. The 14-year-old son of Monsun (Ger) was standing his first season at the stud for a private fee. "The whole Capital Stud team is devastated by the news," said the stud's Ger O'Neill. "He was very popular in his first season here and we were looking forward to covering many more mares with him in future, but sadly it wasn't to be. "However, we look forward to seeing his first Irish foals...

Catesby W. Clay, who ran Runnymede Farm in Paris, Kentucky, for more than six decades in what is now a four-generation family operation that dates to 1867, died peacefully in his sleep Sept. 29 at age 101. The Blood-Horse first reported Catesby Clay's passing, citing confirmation from his son, Brutus Clay III, who is Runnymede's chief executive officer. Brutus Clay told the Blood-Horse that his father, the farm's chairman emeritus, died in the same home and in a room beneath the one in which he was born more than a...

Charles "Nucks" Nuckols III, owner of Nuckols Farm, passed away Sept. 21. He was 78. He is survived by his wife; Mary Jane; his son, Charlie Nuckols IV and partner Amanda Reardon; his son, Thomas Hunter Nuckols and spouse Stacey, grandchildren, Claire Alexandra and Thomas Elliott; his daughter Mary Dunlap and spouse Zachary Armgard, grandchildren, Bruce Ryker and Ashford Henry. He was preceded in death by Hetty Nuckols Gross, and survived by Judy Nuckols Offutt, and Jimmy Nuckols. "Nucks" alongside his father bred and produced several champions including Mr. Leader,...

Kenneth F. Lowe, Jr., the colorful and sometimes controversial chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC), died suddenly earlier this week. His passing was first reported Sept. 4 in a remembrance editorial in the Journal-News of Martinsburg, West Virginia. Lowe was in his mid-70s, and no cause of death had been announced prior to publication of this story. On Thursday, a staffer at the WVRC confirmed Lowe's passing to TDN, but declined to speak on the record about the circumstances of the chairman's death or about his recent health,...

Promising Juddmonte homebred Laurel (GB) (Kingman {GB}) sustained a fatal heart attack during training on Thursday. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the 2022 G1 Sun Chariot Stakes runner-up was last seen running second to Running Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion) in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. A winner of Newmarket and Kempton novices in July and September of 2022 prior to her Sun Chariot near miss, Laurel also won the Listed Snowdrop Fillies' Stakes at Kempton over a mile last April before running 10th...

John Hendrickson, a philanthropist who was the husband of the late Marylou Whitney, died suddenly at a Saratoga hospital Aug. 19, according to the Albany Times-Union Monday. The Albany Times-Union reported that Hendrickson became ill at around midday and later died at the hospital. The cause of death has not been disclosed. Maureen Lewi, longtime friend to Whitney and Hendrickson, was with him in the hospital and confirmed his death to the Times-Union. "I was at the hospital holding his hand," Lewi told the Times-Union. "I was talking to him,...

Respected racing journalist Howard Wright, one of the founding members of the Racing Post, died on Friday, that publication reported. He was 79, and was writing up until a few months ago. The Doncaster native joined Timeform as a clerk in 1964, before moving to the Sheffield Morning Telegraph as racing editor for 11 years, eventually becoming the deputy sports editor. After a time as deputy racing editor of the Daily Telegraph, he switched to the Racing Post when it began in 1986, alongside the publication's founding editor Graham Rock....

Pierre Hoyeau, a notable figure in the racing community of Western France, has died at the age of 91. He was the father of former Arqana president and current senior advisor Eric Hoyeau, and the grandfather of bloodstock agent Arthur Hoyeau. Hoyeau got his start in racing by creating a grain and feed trading company in Anjou, which supplied many trainers in the West of France. From there, his interest in racing developed, leading to Hoyeau creating his own stable, which focused primarily on jumping horses, but he worked with...

According to a report by Kevin Modesti in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, trainer David Hofmans died Wednesday at his home near Santa Anita. He was 81. Hofmans's wife, Linda Murray Hofmans, confirmed the news to Modesti. She added that the Arcadia Police Department are investigating and an autopsy was pending. "We're devastated," Hofmans's widow told Modesti, requesting privacy for the family. The cause of death was not immediately known. According to Equibase, Hofmans began his career in 1974 and won 1,085 races for career earnings of $53,335,405. His biggest...

Joe Friedberg, a prominent Minneapolis defense attorney and racehorse owner, died Monday from colon cancer. He was 87. Friedberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, was a graduate of the University of North Carolina law school, and served in the Marine Corps. A colorful attorney with a large personality, Friedberg represented a long list of NFL players, politicians and others. He was married to his mutual best friend, Carolyn, for 62 years, and they Carolyn raised a daughter and son, both of whom married and presented their parents with grandchildren...