NEWS
Harrison, long-time manager of Plantation Stud, dies at age 63
Posted: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 6:14 PM
Leslie Harrison, who managed the late Lord Howard de Walden’s Plantation Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk, England, died on Sunday of a brain hemorrhage. He was 63.
Harrison managed Plantation Stud from 1972 through 2005, when the farm was sold by the de Walden family to Dermot and Perle O'Rourke.
Following the sale, Harrison cared for a few horses retained by Lady Gillian de Walden and also acted as a freelance breeding consultant.
Born in Derbyshire, Harrison’s first work on a stud farm was in the 1960s for Sir John Musker at Shadwell Stud and as stud manager for Roger and Vera Hue-Williams’s Woolton House Stud.
It was at Plantation Stud years later when Harrison and Alex Scrope, now a prominent bloodstock agent, developed a lifelong friendship.
“In addition to being such an admired and respected colleague, I shall miss him as one of my dearest friends,” Scrope said. “Any time a wheel came off in my life, I always had a home to go to.”
Among the standouts produced by Plantation Stud during Harrison’s tenure were champions Diesis (GB), Kris, and Slip Anchor and multiple Group 1 winner Grand Lodge.
Harrison was a council member of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association from 1987-1991.
“Leslie Harrison was a candid, quick witted and very approachable person who was a huge supporter of the TBA and a valued member of its council,” said Gavin Pritchard-Gordon executive director of the TBA. “His all-round knowledge of racing and breeding was encyclopedic.”
Harrison is survived by his wife, Ruth. A private funeral service open to only close friends and family has been planned. A public service will be held in April.
