NEWS
Colorful agent McDonald dies at 65
Posted: Friday, November 20, 2009 4:45 PM
Billy McDonald, a colorful bloodstock agent who bought two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) winner Alleged and the dam of Sadler’s Wells, died on Thursday at his home in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was 65.
McDonald was a close associate of Coolmore principal Robert Sangster, for whom he purchased Alleged as an unraced two-year-old in training for $120,000 in 1976. The same year, he spent $40,000 for Fairy Bridge in the Keeneland July select sale of yearlings.
Fairy Bridge, by Bold Reasoning, was the champion two-year-old filly of Ireland in 1977, and her mating with Northern Dancer produced Sadler’s Wells, a classic winner, champion, and the leading sire in England and Ireland a record 14 times.
McDonald also spent time as a Rolls Royce dealer in Southern California.
“He will be sadly missed,” said Elaine Lawlor, Goffs director of bloodstock sales. “He was a legend, I think. When I lived in Los Angeles, he was a character in the bloodstock world who had a knack for bringing new people into the game. Billy was a very good friend with the likes of Bill Shoemaker, Charlie Whittingham, and all those people.”
Tullamaine Castle Stud's Bob Lanigan, former general manager of Coolmore, said McDonald would describe himself as the “purveyor of champions to millionaires.”
Johnny Jones Jr., who stood Alleged at Walmac Farm in Lexington, bought McDonald’s share in the horse the night before one of the two Arc victories.
“I can't remember [if it was the first or second Arc win],” Jones said. “Anyway, Alleged won the race, and the value of the share obviously increased tremendously. But Billy didn't back out of the deal. He stayed with it, and did what he said he'd do."
McDonald had many friends in Hollywood, and he played a bettor in the 1989 horse racing movie Let It Ride. He kept a low profile following a stroke about a dozen years ago.
"Billy was one of the great characters of the game," trainer John Gosden said. "He was a man who lived life to the full, and had a great eye for a horse. He was a talented pony rider in his youth, and a fast runner, both into and out of trouble. He was an immensely popular and loveable man who was totally at ease in all the great watering holes, restaurants and race courses of the world. There will never be another Billy."
