LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Arthur B. Hancock III, a prominent figure in Kentucky’s Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, has died at the age of 83.
That’s according to multiple news outlets, including our media partners at the Lexington Herald-Leader, who say Hancock passed following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Hancock was initially poised to lead the family’s world-renowned Thoroughbred empire following his father’s death in 1972. Instead, trustees forced him out of the operation, leaving him to rebuild his life and career on his own terms.
Establishing his own legacy, Hancock went on to found Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky, turning it into an internationally recognized breeding powerhouse that produced two Kentucky Derby winners: Gato Del Sol in 1982 and Sunday Silence in 1989…