obituary

Don Combs, who, as a 31-year-old trainer, won the 1970 GI Kentucky Derby with Dust Commander, passed away Sunday morning at Sayre Christian Village in Lexington. He was 86. The cause of death was a stroke. "His first wife called me this morning and said he had a stroke," said family friend Bobby Penn. "I had been up to see him about a month or two ago. Everything was ok then. He knew me and everything. I told her I would come back and see him. She called me this...

Larry Demeritte, whose inspiring story of battling cancer and making it to the 2024 GI Kentucky Derby captivated racing, passed away Tuesday evening after a lengthy battle with blood cancer. He was 75. A native of the Bahamas, Demeritte was the first Black trainer to saddle a horse in the race for 35 years. Demeritte's father was a trainer in the Bahamas and his son was often at his side when he was running or training horses. Demeritte said that he watched the Kentucky Derby every year on television and...

Champion Westerner has died at Castlehyde Stud in Ireland, Coolmore announced on Friday. The bay was just a few days shy of his 26th birthday. "Westerner was always a pleasure to deal with and was an old favourite of the breeders too," said Castlehyde's Cathal Murphy. "He got you a lovely sort of horse with a good attitude that jumped well. He has been a wonderful servant for us over the years producing so many top-class horses and will be greatly missed by all the team here in Castlehyde." Bred...

Henri Devin, who ran France's historic Haras du Mesnil with his wife Antonia, died at the age of 71 earlier this week. A noted owner-breeder, Devin inherited the stud from his grandparents, Jean and Elisabeth Couturie. Some of the best to call Mesnil home are the 2001 G1 Prix de l'Opera winner Terre A Terre (Kaldounevees), and G1 Hong Kong Vase and G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Ange Gabriel (Kaldounevees). Another is G1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Nonza (Zanzibar), who gave Devin's son, Henri-Francois, his first top-tier score as...

Edited Press Release Professor Gordon Jones passed only four days after his 95th birthday. Jones was a pioneer of speed and pace handicapping. His best-selling book, "Gordon Jones to Win" (1976), inspired his popular pre-race handicapping seminars that were attended by legions of race goers. He brought his numbers to the track at a time when people would laugh at him, and he would hide his spiral notebook. Speed numbers are now a common barometer. He graduated from Whittier College, where his father had been president for several years. He...

The death was reported last week of William (Bill) Berkeley Leach at the age of nearly 92. Bill Leach was, for many years, the owner and manager of Meddler Stud, situated in Kentford, on the outskirts of Newmarket and came from an established racing family. A successful businessman, he was also active in local politics. Although not seen about as much of late, he had inherited his family's jovial and clubbable nature, and for many years, was an amusing and generous host. The Stud had been laid out by his...

Ocala Stud stallion Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}--Seeking the Title, by Seeking the Gold), whose first-crop runners are 3-year-olds this year, died unexpectedly on Feb. 28, of complications from colic. Campaigned by Charles Fipke, the homebred won the 2017 GI Clark H., 2018 GIII Ack Ack S. and the 2019 GII Stephen Foster S. The Kentucky-bred won or placed in eight graded stakes, including runner-up finishes in the $1-million GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the $9-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., while hitting the board in 20-of-32...

Well known in New York's racing and breeding circles, Jane Mindlin Schosberg died peacefully on Mar. 15, surrounded by her family. She was 85 years old. Jane Schosberg was predeceased by her husband Paul in 2017 and her daughter Jill Stoller in 2021. She is survived by her son Richard and her daughter-in-law Dawn; her sister Katherine Reinleitner; her son-in-law Timothy Stoller; grandsons Travis and Ryan; granddaughter Jenna Stoller Grimshaw and her husband Sean; and two great-grandchildren Bryce and Nora. She is also survived by Waffles, her beloved Corgi, who...

Patrice Jacobs Wolfson, who, along with her husband Louis, owned 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed, and several other star horses, passed away Tuesday at her home in Bal Harbour, Florida. The Wolfsons operated Harbor View Farm. The news was confirmed in a posting on the website of Riverside Memorial Chapels. Steve Wolfson, Patrice's stepson, told the Blood-Horse that she had been in declining health the past few years. "Patrice and Penny Tweedy were the first ladies of Thoroughbred racing of their time," he said. "It was a different time. It...

    Group 1-placed Poker Face (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Jpn}) died in a training accident in Dubai earlier this week, owner Edward Ware announced on X. The 6-year-old gelding had won the G2 Zabeel Mile at Meydan in January, and finished 4 1/2 lengths behind Saturday's $20-million G1 Saudi Cup second Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the G1 Jebel Hatta there on Jan 24. He was trained by the father-son training duo of Simon and Ed Crisford. "Terrible news yesterday that the magnificent, brave and talented Poker Face passed away...

  Longtime owner and former Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Vice president Larry Johnson died Feb. 4. He was 78. Founder of Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Virginia, his horses amassed $17.6 million in purse money from 3,132 starts. His most successful year came in 2024 when he had 25 wins and $1.6 million in earnings. On the Aug. 31 Commonwealth Champions Day card at Colonial Downs, Johnson had two stakes wins--Hollywood Walk in the Camptown Stakes and Bert Allen Stakes winner Sky's Not Falling. He was also an active Board member...

His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, who has died in Lisbon at the age of 88, ranks as one of the greatest owner/breeders of this or any other era, as well as one of the most significant religious figures of the modern world. He inherited the title of Aga Khan (commanding leader) on the death of his grandfather Aga Khan III in 1957 and then took control of the family's bloodstock interests three years later when his father Prince Aly Khan lost his life in a car crash. ...