Lucy Gay Bassett |
She was the daughter of the
late A. B. and Elizabeth Simms Gay of Spring Station and a 1950 graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Mass. As the owner and breeder of Lanark Farm, she bred more than 10 stakes winners, including three Grade I races and Adoration, the winner
of the 2003 Breeder's Cup Distaff and earner of more than $2.1 million. She bred 21 horses who won over $100,000. According to The Blood-Horse magazine, Lanark Farm was the leading consignor of stakes winners at the Keeneland September sale in 1996-2000.
Lanark Farm was part of the original Airdrie Farm, founded by her co-ancestor, R.A. Alexander, whose home was on the property. He owned Lexington, one of the three foundation sires of Thoroughbred racing. The nearby Airdrie Stud, founded in 1972, is owned by her cousin, Elizabeth Lloyd "Libby" Jones and former Gov. Brereton Jones. For a history of the Alexander family, from the Kentucky Historical Society, click here.
Lucy Bassett was an inquisitive traveler and a wonderful ambassador for thoroughbred racing, accompanying her husband, the former president of Keeneland Race Course and Breeder's Cup Ltd., to numerous countries and racing events across the world. She was an avid and
competitive golfer, winning Lexington's Idle Hour Country Club championship
three times.
A major landowner, she
had an intense interest in farmland in Central Kentucky. In 1975 she established the Rogers-Bassett real estate firm, which was one of the
leading farm real-estate brokers for the next 20 years.
A graveside service will be held at the Lexington Cemetery Wednesday, May 4, at 12:30 p.m. Visitation will be held at Milward Funeral Directors, 159 N. Broadway, Lexington, today from 5 to 7 p.m. Memorials are suggested to the American Heart Association, the Woodford Humane Society or the Trixie Foundation.
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