Arthur B. Hancock III

Arthur Boyd Hancock III, the Kentucky horseman who built Stone Farm into one of American racing's most respected operations and bred and raced 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence, died on September 18, 2026, at his home on Stone Farm in Paris, Kentucky. He was 83. His wife, Staci, said he died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, the same disease that killed his father.

Hancock was born February 22, 1943, in Nashville, Tennessee, the eldest of four children of Arthur B. "Bull" Hancock Jr. and Waddell Walker Hancock. His grandfather founded Claiborne Farm in 1910, and his father made it the most influential Thoroughbred nursery in the United States. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, Hancock apprenticed in New York under Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Neloy. When Bull Hancock died in 1972, estate advisers chose younger brother Seth to run Claiborne. Arthur left and built Stone Farm on his own.

Stone Farm gave the Hancocks their first Kentucky Derby when Gato Del Sol, bred and raced with Leone J. Peters, won in 1982. Hancock and Peters also bred Risen Star, winner of the 1988 Preakness and Belmont. His greatest horse, Sunday Silence, owned through H-G-W Partners, won the 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Breeders' Cup Classic and was named Horse of the Year, a run Hancock credited with saving Stone Farm from crushing debt. He later co-bred 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus and raced horses including Goodbye Halo and Menifee. Graduates of the farm also include Harlan, Air Force Blue, Bricks and Mortar and others raised on its large fields.

Beyond racing, Hancock wrote Bluegrass songs recorded by Grandpa Jones, Willie Nelson and Ray Price. He served on the boards of Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland, was a member of The Jockey Club, co-founded the Water Hay Oats Alliance to push for cleaner racing, and in 2025 was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf. In 2024 he published a memoir, Dark Horses: A Memoir of Redemption. He last took a drink on New Year's Day 1989 and spoke openly about recovery.

He is survived by Staci and their six children: son Arthur Hancock IV and daughters Alex, Hutchi, Kate, Lynn and Walker. Lynn has taken increasing responsibility for Stone Farm. Tributes from Thoroughbred Daily News, Ray Paulick and across the industry remembered him as a storyteller, campaigner and fourth-generation horseman whose gambles, losses and comebacks became part of the sport's lore.