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Horses Were Other Passion, Business

An avid rider of horses at his Far Acres farm in Middleburg, Jack Kent Cooke became a thoroughbred horseman of national scope with his November 1984 purchase of historic Elmendorf Farm in the heart of Kentucky's bluegrass.

Cooke paid Maxwell H. Gluck $45 million for the 503-acre farm near Lexington and got 2 residences, 9 barns and 327 horses. Implicit in Cooke's purchase was the allure of the Super Bowl of thoroughbred racing: the Kentucky Derby.

That proved a distant vision. In the 12 years past, Flying Continental was the only horse that bore Cooke's gold and blue racing silks through the Derby. He finished 12th in 1989.

Flying Continental did produce major victories on each coast the following year, winning the Charles H. Strub Stakes at Santa Anita Park in Southern California and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in New York. Cooke later called Flying Continental the finest colt he raced, better even than 1985 Swaps Stakes winner Padua.

His best filly, Antespend, rose to prominence in 1996 by winning the Santa Anita Oaks and two other prestigious races in California. Now a 4-year-old with earnings of about $1 million, Antespend is to be sold April 16 at a Keeneland auction, with the balance of Cooke's thoroughbreds to follow.

In January, Cooke announced plans to sell Elmendorf, valued at $7.5 million, and separately to disperse his 140 remaining thoroughbreds. He then sold all his broodmares to Kentucky breeder Robert McNair and made arrangements to auction the rest. Told yesterday of Cooke's death, Keeneland sales officials said his holdings should be auctioned as scheduled.

Cooke had said he lost interest in Elmendorf — which has yet to be sold — after the September 1995 death of son Ralph, who had managed the 115-year-old farm.

Cooke had become peripherally involved with the Maryland racing circuit early in 1994, announcing plans to build his Redskins a stadium at Laurel Park racetrack. Ultimately thwarted by zoning and logistical entanglements, Cooke loaned track president Joe De Francis the money necessary for De Francis to buy out embittered partners Bob and Tom Manfuso. With that, De Francis gained control of Laurel and its sister track, Pimlico Race Course.

De Francis, who had watched a number of Redskins games in recent years from Cooke's owner's box at RFK Stadium, said he's "deeply saddened" by Cooke's death and disappointed that Cooke never saw the new stadium completed.

"He was a truly remarkable man," De Francis said. "I suppose he had more confidence ... than anyone I've ever known. The man thought he could part the Red Sea, and having watched him work the past three or four years, I had come to believe it."

© Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company

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