Owner/Breeder Hunt Leaves Legacy

By J.M. Severni 

Nelson Bunker Hunt, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 88, was an extraordinary man by any measure. Son of Texas oilman H.L. Hunt, Bunker Hunt would become one of the richest men in the world, just to lose all of it, and then regain his wealth again. Throughout his lifetime, the tycoon would become one of the most influential people in the Thoroughbred industry and his insight and impact upon the sport are still felt today. 

Born in El Dorado, Arkansas, Bunker Hunt moved to East Texas during his childhood, and resided in the Lone Star State for the majority of his life. After returning from Naval Service during WWII, Bunker Hunt worked for his father's Hunt Oil Co. By the mid 1950s, he began to expand his interests, both professionally and personally. He began to look for petroleum investments overseas and struck black gold in Libya. In partnership with BP, Bunker Hill owned an estimated 8 million acres of oil fields, which greatly added to his already padded bank account. By the mid 1960s he was worth an estimated $16 billion, making him the wealthiest man in the world at that time. 

With this new windfall, Bunker Hunt and his brother Lamar became more involved with sporting interests. Lamar helped found the American Football League, Major League Soccer and World Championship Tennis. He founded and owned the Kansas City Chiefs and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame and International Tennis Hall of Fame. 

Bunker Hunt would become equally influential in the Thoroughbred industry, both stateside and abroad. He purchased his first yearlings in 1955 and his Thoroughbred empire quickly expanded from there. Throughout the next three decades, Bunker Hunt would become one of the world's leaders in Thoroughbred horseflesh ownership with over 700 horses stabled around the globe. He established Bluegrass Farm in Lexington as his operation's homebase, but bred and raced horses in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

In 1967, in partnership with Wilma Franklyn, he purchased Irish-bred G1 Observer Gold Cup-winning 
2-year-old Vaguely Noble. The next year, Vaguely Noble would win four French group races, including the 
G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He would become one of Bunker Hunt's most prominent stallions, siring a number of the tycoon's best horses including Dahlia, Empery and Exceller. 

Dahlia, a remarkable racehorse, was one of the sport's first international superstars, and validated the effectiveness of Bunker Hunt's global racing vision. Bred and campaigned by Bunker Hunt, she began her career France for trainer Maurice Zilber, and as a 3-year-old, she won the 1973 G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Royal Ascot, the G1 Irish Oaks and GI Washington DC International at Laurel Park. Improbably, she would top that record as a 4-year-old with another victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and wins in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, in York's GI Benson and Hedges Gold Cup (which she would again win in 1975), Belmont's GI Man o' War S. and the GI Canadian International. She was deservingly awarded the 1974 Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Horse. Dahlia retired at six with 15 wins and over $1.5 million in earnings, becoming the first mare to ever surpass the $1.5 million mark. 
Her half-brother by Secretariat fetched $1.5 million at the 1976 Keeneland July Sale, making Bunker Hunt the first breeder to have a horse eclipse the $1 million-mark at public auction. 

Amongst other notable Hunt homebreds is Gazala II, who captured the 1967 G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane en route to being named champion filly in France. She was named the 1976 broodmare of the year in France and produced the likes of US and French champion Youth. Empery, the winner of the 1976 G1 Epsom Derby, was another stable star during that era. 

Bunker Hill bred and campaigned, in partnership with Edward Stephenson, Trillion, who was awarded the Eclipse Award for champion Female Turf Horse in 1979–the category's inaugural year–despite not winning a race that season. She may best be remembered as the dam of Hunt-bred Triptych, who sold for $2.15 million at the 1983 Keeneland July Sale and would go on to become a multiple Group 1 winner. 

“He was one of the all-time gamers. He owned a lot of horses and bred a lot of horses, but he'd go to Keeneland and buy yearlings and diversify,” said longtime Bluegrass Farm manager Larry Richardson. “He just kept up with the game a lot and put a lot of money into the game, he didn't just rest on breeding his own, he would still go buy horses and support the markets.” 

Amongst some of Bunker Hunt's more notable sales purchases was Palace Music, who he acquired for $130,000 at the 1982 Keeneland July Sale as a yearling. Palace Music went on to tally Group/Grade I wins in both the United States and France, and entered the history books as the sire of Hall of Famer Cigar. 

Bunker Hunt also bought Exceller, a colt by Vaguely Noble, for $25,000. His career was highlighted by victories in the G1 Coronation Cup, G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and GI Canadian International. In the 1978 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, Exceller defeated two Triple Crown winners in Seattle Slew and Affirmed–a win Richardson said was one of the high points in the stable's history. 

“I don't think you'll ever see that again in racing and that was quite a highlight,” Richardson said. 

Bunker Hunt, an global industry visionary, was one of the first to begin shuttling stallions in the 1970s. 
A companion of John Gaines, Bunker Hunt also had a hand in establishing the Breeders' Cup. 

“He had a lot of input in forming the Breeders' Cup,” Richardson explained. “I was fortunate enough to be in on a lot of meetings with him and Mr. Gaines and W.T. Young and those type of guys. I think the Breeders' Cup really made this a world-wide sport. He was certainly one of the brains behind that, along with Mr. Gaines and Mr. Young.” 

Bunker Hunt's luck took a turn for the worse in the 1980s. After Muammar Qaddafi nationalized the Libyan oil fields, Bunker Hunt was cut off from his primary source of income. Bunker Hunt, a collector of ancient coins, along with his brother William, began to heavily invest in silver. By the end of the 1970s, the Hunts had acquired silver holdings worth billions, which affected the price of the precious metal on a world-wide scale. The speculation of silver at the end of 1979 forced COMEX to impose new margin rules. On March 27, 1980, a day that would become known as “Silver Tuesday,” the price of silver plummeted. The brothers lost over $1 billion and would be entangled in legal battles over the ensuing years. Bunker Hill filed for bankruptcy in 1988. 

The financial disaster forced Bunker Hill to liquidate his assets. In January of 1988, Bunker Hill dispersed his stock at Keeleand, where 580 horses sold for a total of $49.9 million–the highest Thoroughbred auction gross in history. 
The oilman eventually recovered with his investment in the Titan Resource Corp–a North African oil company–and with his work at the Hunt Exploration and Mining Company. He would eventually return to the Thoroughbred world in the 1990s, though on a much smaller scale. 

Bunker Hill is survived by wife Caroline Lewis; son Houston; and daughters Mary Hunt Huddleston, Ellen Hunt Flowers and Betsey Hunt Curnes, as well as 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. 

“He was just one of the kindest guys you'd ever meet,” Richardson offered. “He never left the barn without thanking his employees. He'd come look at 700 horses in Kentucky and he'd come up several times a year and he always wanted to see all his horses, especially all the babies and the yearlings he would raise. He was just one of the nicest guys. He'd go through his barn and he would go by and shake hands with all the employees and thank them for working there. There wasn't a bad bone in his body. I think one of the best things he ever did–and I worked for him for almost 25 years–he never instructed me to do anything but be fair. We had a lot of dealings with a lot of people, and they weren't always to his favor, and he always said, 'Larry, you just handle it and do whatever is fair.' There aren't many people with his wealth and he just had a lot of character about those kind of things.” 

His legacy on the racing industry is still evident. With the Breeders' Cup next weekend, it's apparent that Bunker Hunt's global view of the sport helped expand the idea of international horses and stallions. 

Throughout his career, Bunker Hunt bred 58 stakes winners and an astounding 25 champions. Amongst his numerous accolades, he was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1976, 1985 and 1987 and was named the British Flat Champion Owner in 1973 and 1974. The National Thoroughbred Association also gave him a special award for Legendary Owner and Breeder. 

“He was just a nice fellow and always trying to do the right thing,” Richardson explained. “And there's not a lot of people in this business you can say that about.”