NEWS
Multitalented Arnold Kirkpatrick dies at 70
Posted: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 1:49 PM
Arnold Kirkpatrick, 70, respected member of the Thoroughbred community for more than four decades, passed away on November 29 at Bourbon Community Hospital in Paris, Kentucky.
Born in Lexington in 1941, Kirkpatrick grew up in Delray Beach, Florida, and later attended Tulane University, from which he graduated in 1965 with degrees in English and psychology. He returned to Lexington that summer to join the staff of The Thoroughbred Record, a weekly racing journal then co-owned by his father, Haden Kirkpatrick. There, the younger Kirkpatrick started off as an editorial/research assistant before advancing to managing editor and, finally, to president and publisher. In hisRecordeditorials of the 1970s, he offered strong and thoughtful viewpoints on just about everything going on in the business—from the prospect of off-track-betting, to the advent of million-dollar yearlings.
Kirkpatrick leftThe Recordin 1976 when appointed executive secretary to the American Horse Council’s Advisory Committee on Racing, a job he held for four years. In 1980, he accepted a position as executive vice president of Leslie Combs II’s Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, at a time when that facility boasted an internationally elite stallion roster, including Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Raise a Native, and Exclusive Native. The following year his work-load doubled when he was named president of Latonia Race Course (now Turfway Park), even as he retained his position at Spendthrift. While dually employed, Kirkpatrick somehow found the time to pen forKeeneland Magazinewhat would become an Eclipse Award-winning article on Spendthrift groom Clem Brooks.
In 1984, he departed both Spendthrift and Latonia to strike out on his own, forming Kirkpatrick and Co., to provide consulting, appraisal, and real estate brokerage services. That year, Kirkpatrick also teamed with horseman and businessman Jack Lohan to co-author the bookSuccessful Thoroughbred Investment In a Changing Market, and in 2001 followed up with a solo effort entitled Investing inThoroughbreds: Strategies for Success.
Always, he gave generously of his time and talents. Almost any organization worth noting, within the time frame of the late 1970s to present, had Kirkpatrick’s fingerprints on it—he was founding president of American Horse Publications, and was involved in the formation of Breeders’ Cup, Central Kentucky Riding for the Handicapped, and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center. At one time or another he served as a Thoroughbred Racing Associations director, as president of the Thoroughbred Club of America, as an adviser for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, as a trustee of the Morris Animal Foundation, and as a board member of the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation.
Kirkpatrick was one of the very few true Renaissance men to grace the Thoroughbred industry of the modern era—the kind that does not come along nearly often enough. He wore many hats through his 70 years—author, editor, writer, publisher, historian, racetrack executive, real estate broker, philanthropist, trusted advisor, gifted arbitrator … and he wore them all well.
A man of integrity and humor, he loved a good aphorism. Among his favorites for those interested in racehorse ownership: “It’s better to own a piece of a good horse than all of a bad one;” “Of the two most expensive things in the world, one is a cheap horse;” and, most especially, “Don’t check your brains at the door.”
Kirkpatrick is survived by his wife Julia, three children, and four grandchildren.
The family asked that donations be made to several charities he supported: The Hope Center, 360 W. Loudon Ave., Lexington, KY 40508, and The Haven for Dogs, P.O. Box 22505, Lexington, KY 40522-2505.
