Gus Koch, legendary Claiborne Farm manager, dead at 74

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Robert “Gus” Koch, the manager of Claiborne Farm during a golden age for the farm’s stallion business who commanded respect throughout Central Kentucky, died on Saturday at his home in Paris, Ky., of complications from cancer, according to his family. Koch was 74.

Koch, a former marine, was the manager of Claiborne Farm, one of the most storied Thoroughbred establishments in the Bluegrass, from 1978 until he retired in 2009. During his tenure, Koch helped to manage the careers of Danzig, Mr. Prospector, and Nijinsky II, three stallions that have had a lasting influence on the Thoroughbred breed around the world.

Also during his time at the farm, Claiborne raised a handful of horses for longtime clients such as the Phipps family that became household names in the Central Kentucky breeding community, including Personal Ensign, Easy Goer, Pulpit, and Seeking the Gold.

Koch was one of the most respected farm managers of his time. He was raised on a farm in Ohio, and after a stint in the Marines and service in Vietnam, he worked at Stoner Creek Stud and Windfields Farm, the operation owned by E. P. Taylor that was the birthplace of Northern Dancer, a foundation sire who was the sire of Nijinsky II. Koch worked at the Windfields property in Maryland when Northern Dancer stood at the operation.

“I always did have a special place in my heart for Nijinsky II,” Koch said in an interview with the Blood-Horse when he retired. “We spent a lot of time together. He was my boy.”

Koch was first diagnosed with cancer 24 years ago. The cancer began in his kidneys and spread to his lungs, one of which was removed. When he retired in 2009, he said he didn’t “want to look back and say, ‘Gee, I wish I had spent more time' ” with his family.

“I’m going to do it,” he said.

When Koch retired, Seth Hancock, the third generation of the Hancock family to run Claiborne, said that Koch was “as good as it gets.”

“Not only as a manager but as a friend, a human being, and a father,” Hancock said, in the Blood-Horse. “Every way you want to slice it, he’s been A-plus. There are special people in the world, and he’s one of them. He’s got a sense of what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Koch is survived by his wife of 50 years, Theresa, and 10 children – five sons and five daughters – and 33 grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that donations be made to the Horse Farm Workers’ Educational Assistance Fund.