obit

Edited CHRB Press Release William 'Will' Meyers, a California steward for nearly 40 years, passed away Saturday at the age of 69. Will came from a racing family. His father was a steward and racing secretary. "Naturally, I started working with horses myself," he once said. "When I was a boy we lived in Arcadia, then Coronado, and on weekends I would go down to Caliente to groom and pony horses. Later, I worked as a stewards' aide in Stockton, Sacramento, and Ferndale." Meyers rose through the ranks of racing...

John Veitch, a Hall of Famer who trained numerous stars, including Alydar, whose legendary battles with Affirmed were part of one of the sport's greatest rivalries, passed away Tuesday in Lexington, Kentucky. He was 77. The news of Veitch's passing was first reported by the Blood-Horse. Veitch's training career ran from 1974 through 2003. According to Equibase, he had 410 career winners and his stable amassed earnings of $20,097,980. He won 76 graded stakes and 93 stakes races overall. Veitch's best years came as the head trainer for Calumet Farm....

Diana Firestone, who, along with her husband Bert campaigned a number of champion horses, including 1980 GI Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk, passed away peacefully at her home in Florida on Feb. 12. She was 91. In 1980, the Firestones won an Eclipse Award as the nation's top owners. Bert Firestone passed away in 2021. "I can't say enough good things about her and Bert and the opportunity they gave me when I shifted from the Midwest to New York," said Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who was hired by...

It seems that every tick of the clock marks the demise of another friend and colleague in my life. Word came in today of the passing on January 15th of Dr. Billy (Merritt William) Marrs, who died in Indio, California, close to his winter home in Palm Springs. Such news usually travels fast in our circles, but this veterinarian has spent more of the last few years on out-of-town golf courses than on the backside or at a horse sale. Nevertheless, there will be a few tears and many fond...

Virginia Kraft Payson, a pioneer with a buoyant spirit who often referred to her life as "a magic carpet ride" woven from a whirlwind of adventure travel, a passion for outdoors journalism, and a mid-life immersion into the world of Thoroughbred racing and breeding, died Jan. 9 at age 92 at her Payson Stud farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The cause of death was complications from Parkinson's disease, as confirmed by Christian Erickson, a decades-long family friend and the trustee of the Payson estate. Payson's entry into Thoroughbred ownership was the...

California's Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal--the nom de course of the Cohen family--lost the stable founder and the Cohen family patriarch, Jed Cohen, Sunday, Nov. 27. Cohen passed away in Del Mar at the age of 89 after battling health issues for the past few years. Among the top horses raced by the Cohens--sometimes in partnership--were GISWs Janet (GB) (Emperor Jones), River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), and Dr. Schivel (Violence). The stable most recently took the leading owner title at the 2022 Santa Anita fall and winter meets...

Daniel M. Smithwick, Jr., better known as "Speedy," passed away Apr. 23 in Middleburg, Va. He was 62. A former amateur steeplechase jockey, Smithwick was the son of Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer D.M. 'Mikey' Smithwick and his wife, fellow steeplechase trainer Dorothy 'Dot' Fred Smithwick. After a successful steeplechasing career of his own in the 1980s, Smithwick deviated from his parents' path and became a flat trainer along with his wife, Eva. Among their most prominent owners was Jack Kent Cooke and among their top graded winners were Ziggy's...

Harvey Warner, the Manitoba Jockey Club (MJC) Board Chair, passed away recently, according to Assiniboia Downs. He was one of the original founders of the non-profit MJC in 1993 and played a large part in rescuing Assiniboia Downs and the Manitoba racing industry from bankruptcy. He was recognized in 2020 with a special Sovereign Award in honor of his contributions to the sport. A longtime owner, Warner was also a former president of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) of Manitoba. He is survived by his wife, Edie, and...

Theiline "Ty" Scheumann, a Washington-based owner and breeder who founded Grousemont Farm and achieved success on the national level, died Dec. 30, 2021, in Bellevue. She was 90. An avid outdoorswoman, Scheumann was a horsewoman, bird hunter, fisherman, floatplane pilot, and sailor. In the Thoroughbred arena, she was a strong supporter of the Washington industry and was honored as a Washington Racing Hall of Fame breeder in 2011. Her Grousemont Farm was one of the contributors to the building of the WTBOA Sales Pavilion and offices at Emerald Downs in...