obituary

Eddie Truman, a trainer as renowned for his patience with the Thoroughbred as for a perennially genial disposition, has passed at the age of 77. "A great horseman and an even greater individual," said veteran trainer Gary Stute. "I never heard him say a bad word about anybody--anybody--and on the racetrack, that's few and far," Stute added. "Once you met him, you stayed friends with him. The ultimate honest good person." Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, Truman trained 763 winners and collected $15.7 million in earnings. He had...

Rathbary Stud's influential sire Acclamation (GB) has died at the age of 25. The son of Royal Applause (GB) had recently been retired from covering duties. The stud announced the news via a statement on social media which read, "It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Acclamation this weekend. He leaves behind a legacy as a true legend of the Irish stallion ranks. He will be deeply missed by all at Rathbarry Stud but never forgotten." Bred by Tedwood Bloodstock and partners, the son of Princess Athena...

After a years-long long battle with cancer, Southern California-based trainer Ben Cecil has passed at the age of 56. He leaves behind his wife Kirsty, and two children, Francesca and Hugo. A near 30-year training career yielded 325 victories and nearly $25 million in prize money. He conditioned several Golden State heavy weights including multiple Grade I winners Golden Apples and Squeak, along with top-flight winners Donna Viola and Passinetti. As nephew to legendary British trainer Henry, Cecil's lineage suggested no other career path than the one taken. His father...

Multiple Group 1 winner Elvstroem (Aus) (Danehill) has died at the age of 24, according to published reports. He was standing at Haras du Petit Tellier in France. Trainer Tony Vasil said of Elvstroem to Racing.com, "You could watch a movie with him sitting on the couch beside you. He was such a gorgeous horse. He was an extraordinarily smart horse." Well traveled throughout his 32-start career, Elvstroem won his first Group 1 in the 2003 Victoria Derby, before adding the G1 Underwood Stakes and G1 Caulfield Cup in 2004....

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,...