Arthur B. Hancock, Jr.

Arthur B. "Bull" Hancock, Jr. (1910–1972) was a breeder and owner of thoroughbred racehorses at Claiborne farm in Kentucky. He acquired European horses to breed in the United States, in particular Nasrullah and Princequillo, and gained great standing in the racing world as a result.

Early life

Hancock was born on January 24, 1910 to Arthur B. Hancock and Nancy, née Clay, at Claiborne Farm. He was educated at two prep schools: St. Mark's School in Massachusetts and Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1933.^[1] During World War II, Hancock served as a major in the United States Army Air Forces.^[2]

Horse breeder

From the age of six, Hancock began to learn the horse business from his father, sweeping sheds and shaking empty stalls.^[3] In 1957, Hancock inherited Claiborne, a 2,873 acre stud farm near Paris, Kentucky, and concentrated on breeding major winners and importing European stallions. Wanting a son of the great Nearco, in partnership with William Woodward, Sr. and Harry F. Guggenheim he purchased the Irish stallion Nasrullah. Hancock and his partners then syndicated Nasrullah who sired Bold Ruler and who in turn was the leading sire in North America eight times and whose progeny included U.S. Triple Crown winner, Secretariat. During his career at stud, Nasrullah sired 98 stakes winners in all and was the leading sire in North America five times.^[4] Hancock also imported Princequillo, who sired Secretariat's dam, Somethingroyal, and was the leading sire twice and leading broodmare sire in North America eight times. In addition, Hancock bred and stood Round Table, syndicated Nijinsky II, and managed the career of Buckpasser.^[5] Hancock had plans for Sham, whom he called "my great horse",^[6] but he died when the horse was two. In order to keep the breeding stock, the estate sold all the racing stock, and Sham went to Sigmund Sommer, who raced the horse against Secretariat during the Triple Crown in 1973.^[7]

Bull Hancock served as President of the Thoroughbred Club of America in 1947-1948. In 1999, the Racing Post named him at number 12 in their list of 100 Makers of 20th century horse racing.^[8]

Death

In August 1972, Hancock fell ill while hunting in Scotland. He died a few weeks later of pancreatic cancer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.^[9] He was buried in the Paris Cemetery. His widow established the A. B. Hancock Jr. Memorial Laboratory for Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.^[10]

It was said of him, by racing journalist Peter Willett, "Bull was the biggest man, physically speaking, in the thoroughbred industry of his day, and towered above most of his contemporaries in professional ability and the dominance of his personality."^[8]

References

External links

• Waddell Hancock, Matriarch of Claiborne Farm Dies