Arthur Boyd Hancock (June 26, 1875 - April 1, 1957) was a

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

thoroughbred racehorses The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...

who established Claiborne Farm in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Born at Ellerslie Estate in Albemarle County, Virginia, near

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

, Arthur Hancock was a brother to scholar and educator Harris Hancock (1867–1944). Their father, Capt. Richard Johnson Hancock, owned Ellerslie Stud in Albemarle County and Arthur chose to follow in his father's footsteps. Racing in partnership with Major Thomas W. Doswell, Capt. Hancock won the 1884

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...

with Knight of Ellerslie. In 1908, Arthur Hancock married Nancy Tucker Clay of Paris, Kentucky who inherited a family farm property they named Claiborne Farm. Arthur Hancock expanded the Ellerslie Stud to his wife's Kentucky property and eventually transferred the bulk of his operation there. In 1946, Arthur Hancock sold Ellerslie Stud to Robert Schlesinger. Importing breeding stock from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Arthur Hancock made Claiborne Farm an international leader in breeding, sales, and racing. He bred

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...

, the 1923

winner. Among his famous sires was

Sir Gallahad III Sir Gallahad (1920–1949) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and an extremely important sire in the United States. Racing career Racing at age two in France for his British breeder/owner, Jefferson Davis Cohn, Sir Gallahad earned victory in ...

purchased from

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who was the leading sire in 1930, 1933, 1934, and 1940 and who sired 1930 U.S. Triple Crown winner

Gallant Fox Gallant Fox (March 23, 1927 – November 13, 1954) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the second winner of the American Triple Crown. In a racing career which lasted from 1929 to 1930, Gallant Fox won 11 of his 17 races includ ...

. Hancock was part of a 1936 consortium that imported Blenheim from England and in 1944 he purchased

Princequillo Princequillo (1940–1964) was a Thoroughbred racehorse conceived in France and born in Ireland. He is known for his performances in long-distance races and his successes as a sire. Background His sire, Prince Rose, stood at the Haras de Cheff ...

who became the leading U.S. sire for 1957 and 1958. During his lifetime, Arthur Hancock was active in various institutions that helped his industry. He served as president of the Thoroughbred Horse Association, was a voting trustee of the Keeneland Association on its establishment in 1936, and was part of the executive of the Kentucky State Racing Commission. In 2018, Arthur Hancock was posthumously voted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as one of its esteemed Pillars of the Turf. In 1945, Hancock suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

then two years later, the first of several strokes. As a result, Arthur Jr. took over the running of the business. Arthur Hancock died in 1957.

References

Hancock family papers
at Houghton Library, Harvard College Library,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

University of Kentucky family profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Chicago alumni Businesspeople from Kentucky American racehorse owners and breeders United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees 1875 births 1957 deaths People from Albemarle County, Virginia Arthur B. Hancock People from Colonial Heights, Virginia