FARISH TO RECEIVE ECLIPSE AWARD OF MERIT
NTRA PRESS RELEASE
December 29, 2009
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that William S. Farish, owner of Lane’s End Farm and a pre-eminent industry leader of multiple organizations and causes, will be honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred racing.
Farish will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit on Monday, January 18 at the 39th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“I am so honored to have been selected for a sport which has given me and my family so much pleasure and enjoyment for the past 35 years,” said Farish, who resides in Lexington, Ky. “I am humbled to be chosen to join this list of outstanding people who have received this Award of Merit, many of whom have been long time friends.”
A successful owner and breeder who has served the Thoroughbred industry in a number of high-profile positions, Farish is one of the world’s most well-known and influential horsemen. He is a steward and vice chairman of The Jockey Club, a director and former chair of the executive committee of the Breeders’ Cup (for which his son, Bill, currently serves as chairman of the board), a member of the board of directors of the Keeneland Association, and a Keeneland trustee. He was chairman of the board of Churchill Downs from 1992-2001, where the company grew from a single race track to a multi-track corporation.
“Will Farish is deeply involved in every phase of the Thoroughbred Industry,” said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. “If you follow the life cycle of the Thoroughbred each stage from mating, breeding, raising, registration, sales, training, racing, and then back to the farm for breeding, Will has positively impacted each step along the way. His knowledge, passion and willingness to give of his time for the betterment of the Industry and the sport have meant so much for the modern Thoroughbred world. We are grateful to have him serve as a trustee of Keeneland and appreciate his advice and counsel.”
In June, the William Stamps Farish Fund donated $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). As a member of the PDJF board, and working with its executive director, Nancy LaSala, Farish is helping to raise some $10-12 million to endow a fund that will provide continuous support for disabled riders. “The more I explored the situation,” said Farish, “the more I realized that a sustaining pool of monies was necessary. I feel that everyone who is associated with our sport realizes that a permanent source of funding is needed improve the lives of these disabled riders.”
Farish was born in Houston, Texas and is the grandson of the late William S. Farish II, the founder of Humble Oil and Refining and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Farish’s grandfather founded the famed Lazy F Ranch in Texas, which campaigned three-time Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Forego in the mid-1970s.
Will Farish purchased his first Thoroughbred in 1963. In 1972, he campaigned Preakness Stakes winner Bee Bee Bee. In 1979, Farish founded Lane’s End, a stallion and breeding farm and public sales operation that covers more than 3,000 acres near Lexington, Ky. Among the 22 stallions currently standing at Lane’s End are 1992 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year A.P. Indy; 2003 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Mineshaft, which Farish campaigned; leading sire Smart Strike; and Smart Strike’s sons Curlin, Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and English Channel, 2007 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Male. With the late Warner L. Jones Jr., Farish bred Seattle Dancer, who set the world-record price for a yearling when he was sold for $13.1 million in 1985. Farish is a two-time recipient of the Eclipse Award as leading breeder, including in 1999 when he and his partners bred the winners of all three Triple Crown races that year. Farish has raced more than 150 stakes winners in his name or with various partners.
From 2001-2004, Farish served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and the Farishes have hosted Queen Elizabeth II on her visits to Kentucky, most recently to attend the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
“In his many leadership roles over the years, Will Farish has been an immensely important contributor to the sport and business of Thoroughbred racing,” said D.G. Van Clief, Jr., former president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “Whether serving as an Epsom Oaks-winning U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, the chairman of Churchill Downs, a trustee of Keeneland or the master of Lane’s End Farm, his presence has ensured progress and success. I know firsthand that Will’s service as the chairman of the Breeders’ Cup executive committee was instrumental to its successful launch and subsequent growth as a world championship. Without him it would not be the globally respected event it is today. Wherever Will Farish has applied his personal brand of leadership the sport has benefited, and there is no more deserving recipient of this award.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
-30-
Tags: churchill downs, D.G. Van Clief Jr., daily racing form, eclipse award of merit, eclipse awards, farish, Keeneland, Lane's End, national turf writers association, nick nicholson, NTRA, pdjf, permanently disabled jockeys fund, Will Farish, William S. Farish
December 30th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Congratulations Will Farish and Lane’s End ! America is Blessed to have people like Will Farish and his family to represent Thoroughbred Racing in our Country. I visited Lane’s End earlier this year to see “The Mighty Curlin” and I was very impressed with the staff. They were so friendly and take such pride in their work. The Horses at Lane’s End are treated like Kings and Queens!!
December 30th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
He Mybigred,
I guess you weren’t given the tour of the “back” fields where old retired mares are left out in freezing rain and horrible conditions without any access to shelters….Nobody gets that “tour”. Yeah “treated like Kings and Queens” until they’re of no value anymore….Sorry to be a downer…but it’s the truth. Lane’s End isn’t the only farm that treats their old “pensioned” horses this way, many do. GULCH is very lucky he went to Old Friends.
December 30th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
The retired mares at Lanes End are taken care of well. No they don’t live in palaces like the stallions, but they are taken care of just as well as all the other mares on the farm. They also where Rambo blankets that are waterproof. You should not be making accusations that are not true,and then hiding behind an abbreviated username.