span style=”font-weight: bold;”> Lord Kenneth
Lord Kenneth, 11, winner of the Virginia Gold Cup timber stakes, two-time winner of the International Gold Cup timber stakes (Va.) and the Maryland Horse Breeders Association’s 2003 Steeplechase Horse of the Year was euthanized on April 30, after he broke a hind pastern bone while running in a training flat race at the Middleburg Hunt Point-To-Point, Middleburg, Va.

Owned by Kinross Farm of Middleburg, Va., and trained by Neil Morris, Lord Kenneth was a Maryland-bred, chestnut gelding by Lord Avie. On the flat, Lord Kenneth competed for owner Arnold Smolen and trainer John Salzman and was stakes-placed as a 2-year-old. He converted to steeplechasing in 2000, and Morris claimed Lord Kenneth from the hurdle ranks in 2001 and converted him to timber.

He won three of four starts over timber in 2003 and earned $60,600 to place second in the National Steeplechase Association timber standings. Lord Kenneth captured the four-mile Virginia Gold Cup that spring, and added the International Gold Cup in the fall. In 2004, Lord Kenneth returned from an 18-month layoff to finish second in the Inter-national Gold Cup.

“The most upsetting part about this whole thing is that this horse was more than a race horse, he was a family pet,” said Morris. “He was a good boy every single day, no matter what.

“Whatever you asked him to do, he did,” added Morris. “I’ve led the hunting field on him and days later sent him with the field. It didn’t matter to him. We raced him in a two-ounce hollow snaffle because that’s all he needed. He was the most generous spirit I have ever come across on four legs. Over a long career with horses, you’d think you might get hardened to losing a horse like this, but it just doesn’t happen.” N.L.


Lady Hugh Russell
Lady Hugh Russell, perhaps the most influential supporter of the British eventing team from the late ’60s to the late ’80s, died at her home in England in late March at age 70. It had been just a year since her husband, Lord Hugh, had died.

Lady Hugh became paralyzed after suffering a fall in the hunting field in 1967, after which she focused on training horses and riders. She had competed internationally in eventing, even riding in the 1966 World Championships at Burghley (England).

Lady and Lord Hugh soon established their 1,200-acre estate at Wylye as the premier eventing training center in England. As many as 200 riders would train there with Lady Hugh each year. Among the many British stars of the era who trained there were Ginny Holgate Elliot and Lucinda Green, each of whom won the World Championships.

Lady Hugh also organized an annual horse trial at Wylye. She would teach and organize from her “mini moke,” a roofless car that had been specially adapted to be an all-terrain vehicle that allowed her to go almost anywhere. They sold Wylye in 1986 and moved to Wales.

Green told Eventing, “Lady Hugh had one of the greatest influences over my cross-country riding, and I don’t believe I would have got where I did without her.” Staff