Tributes flow for thoroughbred visionary B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm
Prominent owner and breeder to also leave a legacy through his successful Australian operation
It takes a special individual to take on a challenge the enormity of a thoroughbred stud. That goes for anywhere, not least of all on the other side of the world and at the age of 81, but that is what American racing visionary B. Wayne Hughes undertook in Australia almost seven years ago.
Hughes died at his home on Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky yesterday, aged 87, surrounded by his family, triggering tributes from industry figures from around the world.
Garry Cuddy, Spendthrift Australia general manager, said US-based Hughes would leave a long-lasting legacy on the racing and breeding industry Down Under despite the relatively short time which has elapsed since the inception of his Australian operation.
Cuddy yesterday reflected on Hughes, a man who has undoubtedly left a big impression on him since being called up out of the blue to fly to America for an interview.
“The one thing I guess everybody would know about Mr Hughes is how driven he was to succeed,” Cuddy said.
“To be the best is really the only option for him. He’s obviously got into the stallion business later in life but he’s given it a fair whack.”
That was at the forefront of Cuddy’s mind when speaking to ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday, adding: “It’s not been a great morning, that’s for sure, but he probably wouldn’t want it any other way (and that is) we plough on. The breeding season is just around the corner, he’d be telling us, so we’ve got to keep selling those nominations.”
Hughes established Spendthrift Australia in April 2015 after purchasing Yallambee Stud at Romsey in Victoria from which his southern hemisphere operation is based.
Opening an Australian arm came 11 years after Hughes, one of this century’s most influential industry investors, took over and subsequently rebuilt Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.
He bought the farm in 2004 and moved from California to Kentucky to indulge his passion for racing and breeding. He remained on the farm until his death.
Hughes immediately set about redeveloping Spendthrift Farm by improving its infrastructure and depth of its bloodstock. His blueprint was helped immensely by stallions Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy) and twice reigning champion Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday), but Cuddy was in no doubt that it was the latter’s son Authentic (Into Mischief) who provided Hughes with his finest moment in the industry when he won last year’s Kentucky Derby (Gr 1, 10f).
“Malibu Moon was a homebred for Mr Hughes, so for him to become the first stallion to come to Spendthrift (in 2008) and get to the levels that he did (was special),” Cuddy said.
“For us to then be lucky enough to follow Malibu Moon up with a horse like Into Mischief was a fantastic thing, but I definitely think the icing on the cake for Mr Hughes was Authentic’s win in the Kentucky Derby last year.
“That was the race he always wanted and it was a race he hadn’t had very much luck in.
“Even on that day, he had a second runner in the race who gate scratched in the saddling paddock (Thousand Words), so we thought, ‘here we go again’ but some of the footage that was circulated at that time of Authentic’s win just showed how much the industry meant to Mr Hughes and how much he just loved it.”
Hughes, who owned horses for five decades, also raced the three-time Breeders’ Cup winner of 11 Grade 1 races, and 18 in total, in Beholder (Henny Hughes), who was one of only three mares in history to be crowned a four-time Eclipse Award champion in the years of 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016, a prize recognising the leading horses in the US from across the different divisions.
Hughes employed Cuddy as Spendthrift Australia’s inaugural general manager at the age of 27 on the recommendation of then Magic Millions managing director Vin Cox and Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.
“Ned Toffey rang me one day, our general manager from Kentucky, and he said he’d been talking to Vin Cox who was obviously my first boss in this industry and Chauncey Morris and they’d recommended me for a role in the company in Australia and could I come up to Kentucky and have an interview with them?” Cuddy recalled.
“I jumped on a plane two days later, went up and met Mr Hughes and Ned. From the first time I met him, I knew that I liked him. He was such a kind, generous man.
“The level of conversation that you could have with him went from general chit chat through to boardroom level discussion and that could be from sentence to sentence.
“He was a very inspiring man and it was great when I was able to get up there and meet him and join the team.”
Under Cuddy’s leadership, Spendthrift Australia is now entering its most exciting phase with Group 2-winning sprinter Dirty Work (Written Tycoon) standing his first season at stud this year and the first two-year-olds by Overshare (I Am Invincible), another yearling purchase, about to hit the racetrack.
However, Cuddy said the plan for Spendthrift Australia was not initially the vision Hughes had for his racing and breeding interests in the southern hemisphere but that it was his determination to achieve which led to the stud’s establishment.
“We were just looking to have a couple of stallions to shuttle down here and in the end Mr Hughes decided, ‘bugger this, I am going to do it myself and I am going to buy a farm’. He employed me to do a job and the job changed pretty quickly but he stuck by me and gave me an opportunity,” he said.
“Here we are seven years down the line and hopefully what we have been able to achieve down here so far was good enough for him.
“I know we’ve got some pretty exciting horses on our stallion roster and hopefully there’s an Into Mischief or Malibu Moon level of success for us still to come in the future.”
Cuddy added: “It was a risk Mr Hughes was willing to take, he was willing to set it all up and run the gauntlet that he would be here when the success started.
“Unfortunately, he won’t be here with us but his legacy will live on through his family and through us down here. Hopefully we can get the end result that he wanted for Australia and make him proud.”
Australian auction houses Magic Millions and Inglis were among the bodies which paid tribute to Hughes upon learning of his death, as did Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria.
“TBV and the Victorian breeding industry are saddened to hear of the passing of Mr B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm,” TBV executive officer Charmein Bukovec said.
“Mr Hughes established his Victorian farm in 2015 and his philosophy was to always ensure that both breeders and horses were at the centre of everything he did. His loss will be felt by many in the industry, especially those who were close to him.”
The Hawkes family, which trained Overshare and Dirty Work for Hughes, as well as a number of other horses, also gave their condolences to his family.
“Thank you for all the support that you have given us. Condolences to all the family. Gone but never forgotten,” Hawkes Racing posted on Twitter.
Churchill Downs racetrack president Mike Anderson also paid tribute to Hughes.
“The entire Churchill Downs family was saddened to learn about the passing of legendary owner and breeder B. Wayne Hughes. Mr Hughes was a visionary, who elevated Spendthrift Farm to new heights,” Anderson said.
“We take solace in knowing that he was able to enjoy and win America’s greatest race last September when Authentic led every step of the way to garner the roses and solid gold Kentucky Derby trophy he coveted for many years.”
Hughes, who was born Bradley Wayne in 1933, turned his focus to racing and breeding in 2002 after retiring from a successful business career. Last year, the University Of Louisville honoured Hughes with the Galbreath Award, a prize given to recognise entrepreneurial leadership in the equine industry.
Upon receiving the award, Hughes said: “There are few thrills greater than what horseracing can provide, and it is our responsibility to do a better job of improving this great sport so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I have.”