B.J. Wright, owner of Jeranimo and Ultimate Eagle, dies

B.J. Wright, a Kentucky native who owned stakes-winning Thoroughbreds in Southern California in recent years, died early Tuesday of cancer, according to his trainer, Mike Pender.

Wright was 76, and had been battling illness in the last year.

Wright campaigned such prominent runners as Jeranimo, a millionaire and eight-time stakes winner, and Ultimate Eagle, who won three stakes, including the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2011. Jeranimo won the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year.

On consecutive weekends in October 2011, Wright and Pender watched Jeranimo win the Grade 2 Oak Tree Mile on turf, and Ultimate Eagle score a 34-1 upset in the Grade 2 Oak Tree Derby.

Wright and Pender had a lifelong sporting relationship. Wright coached a pre-teen Pender in Pop Warner football in Southern California in the 1970s before the two met again after Pender became a Thoroughbred trainer.

Wright had horses in the 1960s, and then left the sport before enjoying greater success in recent years.

Wright owned Lifesource Water Systems, a water filtration company in Southern California formed in the 1980s.

Wright was active in charitable causes in the Pasadena area. He was a member of the board of the Rose Bowl Legacy Committee, and was a member of the board of House of Children, an organization that provided clean drinking water to residents of the Peruvian Amazon.

Wright was born in Shelbyville, Ky., and moved to California in the early 1960s.