Bernard Daney, former chairman of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission, dies at 92

Bernard Daney, an accomplished businessman, educator, and racing regulator who served as chairman of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission for 18 years, died Dec. 9 at age 92.

Daney, a Delaware native who resided in Greenville, earned a Bronze Star for serving with the infantry in France and Germany during World War II.

He was the head of several large accounting firms in Wilmington, Del., from the 1950s to the 1990s and was a co-founder of Brandywine College, now the Widener University Law School, where he taught taxes and accounting and was vice president of administration from 1965-1986.

He and his wife, Arlene, bred and owned approximately 160 horses, including the Pennsylvania-breds Parfaitement, who ran in the 1983 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and Docent, a 16-time winner of $802,000 who won three Maryland Million stakes, including the Classic in 2002 and 2003.

Daney chaired the Delaware Commission from 1993 to 2011. He was a longtime member of the board of directors of the Association of Racing Commissioners International and was chairman of that organization in 2007. The ARCI honored Daney with a lifetime achievement award in 2009.

He also served as a board member and treasurer of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association from 1983 to 2011.

"He was a gentleman and a gentle man, kind to everyone and an inspiration to a lot of people," said John Wayne, the executive director of the Delaware Commission. "But he also was firm on things he believed in."

Daney is survived by his wife and four sons. A viewing will be held at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Friday, with a funeral mass to follow.