Dan Kenny, bloodstock agent and racing journalist, dies at 73

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dan Kenny, a jack-of-all-trades in the racing industry who was a co-founder of Four Star Sales, died on Dec. 25 at an assisted-living facility in Atlanta, Ga., according to friends. Kenny, who had been diagnosed with dementia three years ago, was 73.

Kenny, who is best remembered as a bloodstock agent and media personality, was part of the original team at Four Star Sales, which was launched in 2002 with the backing of John T. L. Jones, who also recently died. Prior to his involvement with Four Star, Kenny was a bloodstock agent with a lengthy list of notable clients, including Eugene Melnyk and John Franks, and, in the meantime, a racing television analyst, and before that a sportswriter who had a short stint as an editor at Daily Racing Form.

“He was probably one of the most passionate horse people I have ever been around,” said Kerry Cauthen, a partner in Four Star Sales, on Friday. “He loved every aspect of the game. If it was about horses or horse people, Dan loved it. That really came out anytime you talked with him.”

Born in Pennsylvania, Kenny attended Loyola University in New Orleans, La., where he caught the racing bug by making trips to Fair Grounds racetrack. He rapidly mastered handicapping and betting strategies, a lifelong passion that served him well when doping out racing or breeding prospects in the auction ring.

Following his jobs as a sportswriter and racing editor, Kenny plied the bloodstock trade in Canada and California before starting his own agency, Sunny Blossom Farm, in Kentucky in 1993. While acting as an agent, he also worked as an analyst on racing broadcasts on a number of national and regional networks.

Kenny was diagnosed with Lewy Body disease, a progressive form of dementia, in 2015. He stepped aside from Four Star Sales a year later, and moved to Atlanta to be closer to family members.

“He never once shied away from telling people what was going on with him,” Cauthen said. “That’s the way he was. He wanted the elephant in the room out of the way so he could go on talking normally about horses. He was extremely well-liked, and deservedly so.”

Kenny is survived by four children: Josh, Shannon, Bridget, and Brody. A memorial service will be held on Jan. 18 at Christ the King in Lexington, and a celebration of his life will follow at Dudley’s on Short, a popular horsemen’s restaurant.