Longtime Kentucky breeder Welker dies at 82

Longtime Kentucky breeder Bayne Welker Sr. died Friday at Mayfair Manor Nursing Home in Lexington, Ky. He was 82 and had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for some time.

Welker and his wife Libby owned and operated Locust Ridge Farm in Paris, Ky. In 1996, the year that Locust Ridge-raised and -sold Will’s Way won the Travers Stakes, Bayne and Libby Welker were named Kentucky Thoroughbred farm managers of the year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club. The Welkers had raised and sold the Travers winner for their friends and longtime clients Robert and Lorraine Quinichett.

Welker also is the father of Fasig-Tipton vice president Bayne Welker Jr. and of Silverton Farm owner and Allied Bloodstock partner Bert Welker.

A gathering of family and friends will take place between 5 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Clark Funeral Home, 241 Rose Hill, Versailles, Ky. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Hospice of the Bluegrass, 2409 Members Way, Lexington, Ky., 40504, and HOPE Clinic, P.O. Box 23, Versailles, Ky., 40383.