Longtime owner-breeder Holloway dies at 83

David P. Holloway, a longtime Thoroughbred owner and breeder whose top horse was the standout sprinter Bet On Sunshine, died Thursday night at Jewish Hospital following a lengthy illness. He was 83.

Holloway lived in Middletown, Ky., where he founded a successful concrete business. He owned horses in partnership with David Levitch before mostly going solo, employing Steve Morguelan, Paul McGee, and Bill Connelly as his primary trainers.

Holloway purchased Bet On Sunshine, a foal of 1992, for $22,000. Trained by McGee, the chestnut gelding raced 47 times and won 22 races, including 14 stakes, for earnings of more than $1.4 million. He won the Phoenix at Keeneland twice, the Aristides at Churchill Downs twice, the Arlington Sprint three times, and ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint twice (1997, 2000). He died in 2012 at Hermitage Farm.

Holloway’s other top horses included Dubious Miss, the winner of the Grade 3 Ben Ali at Keeneland and an earner of more than $600,000.

Holloway is survived by his wife of 63 years, Henrida; five adult children; 14 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Ratterman’s on Shelbyville Road in Middletown, with a memorial service set for Monday morning at Middletown United Methodist Church.