Arthur B. Hancock III, the black sheep scion expelled from horse racing royalty who went on to win the Kentucky Derby twice on his own terms, died Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to multiple news outlets. He was 83.
As the eldest son of Arthur “Bull” Hancock Jr., Hancock III was destined to take over the storied dynasty of Claiborne Farm in Bourbon County. But the twin pulls of bourbon and bluegrass music pulled him in other, more rollicking directions as a student at Vanderbilt and after, as he described in his memoir “Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption.”
While in Nashville, he almost became a professional country musician, writing songs for folks like Grandpa Jones, Willie Nelson and Ray Price. But the horses always called him back…