Wellington, Fla.—Dec. 16 

The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Hunter Harrison, McLain Ward’s longtime sponsor, owner of Double H Farms and CEO of the railroad conglomerate CSX, has died on Dec. 16 at the age of 73. Harrison had taken medical leave from CSX, the third largest U.S. rail company, for an unspecified illness just before he died.

Hunter Harrison (left) with McLain Ward.

CSX released a statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce that E. Hunter Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX, died today in Wellington, Fla., due to unexpectedly severe complications from a recent illness. The entire CSX family mourns this loss.”

Harrison’s Double H Farm owns a number of top show jumping horses, most notably McLain Ward’s 2017 Longines FEI World Cup Final winner and Olympic Games mount, HH Azur. Harrison also owned part of Ward’s two-time team Olympic gold medal-winning mare, Sapphire, and horses like HH Carlos Z, HH Rebozo, HH Rufus, Night Train and more. He owned a number of horses with the HH prefix for U.S. rider and son-in-law Quentin Judge and his daughter Cayce Harrison Judge. Harrison also owned horses for top riders like Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa and Ireland’s Darragh Kerins.

Hunter Harrison. Photo by Tricia Booker

Born in Memphis, Tenn., Harrison started in the railroad business as a rail car oiler for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and made his fortune turning around railway companies. Harrison spent much of his professional life as CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and CEO of Canadian National Railway, joining CSX in March of 2017.

In addition to his support of individual riders, through Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, Harrison also provided sponsorship to some of the biggest show jumping competitions in the world, including Spruce Meadows in Canada, the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington and many other shows throughout the United States.

Mr. Harrison is survived by his wife, Jeannie, and daughters Elizabeth (Libby) Julo and Cayce Judge.

Hunter Harrison (right) and his wife Jeannie Harrison. Photo by Vicci Valenti