Eaton, noted horseman and sales agency founder, dies

Lee Eaton, who established the renowned Eaton Sales Agency and co-bred such

outstanding performers as Bold Forbes and Green Desert, died Thursday evening of natural

causes in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He was 76. Eaton had waged a successful fight

against brain cancer for more than five years, and was declared free of the

disease last year.

A native of West Virginia, Eaton graduated from the University of Kentucky

with a degree in agriculture. In 1964, he purchased the Wellington Moore Farm, a

270-acre property on Mount Horeb Pike, just north of Lexington, Kentucky. Eaton

would rename the farm, which dated back to the early 19th century, Indian Hill

Farm in honor of the nearby Adena Indian mound, nestled by North Elkhorn Creek.

Indian Hill was to become home to a number of top-class performers.

Eaton started out on his own as a bloodstock agent, and his operations became

the nucleus of Eaton Sales. Later, he sold a share in the agency to John

Williams,  and the enterprise became Eaton-Williams, perennially a leading

consignor at such prestigious venues as Keeneland and Saratoga. Williams

ultimately bowed out of the firm. In late 1995, Eaton sold the agency to Reiley

McDonald and Tom Van Meter, who have maintained the Eaton Sales banner.

Eaton was highly influential on the sales scene, both as an agent, and with

his former proteges now holding prominent

positions in their own agencies. He has left an enduring legacy as a breeder as

well, one of worldwide import.

In 1963, Eaton purchased a yearling filly from Calumet Farm. Named Comely

Nell (Commodore M.), she was blind in one eye and never made it to the races,

but she would more than make up for that by becoming the dam of dual classic

winner Bold Forbes.

Eaton bred Bold Forbes in partnership with the Red Bull Stable of Marvin

Waldman and Samuel Lyon. They sold the Irish Castle colt as a yearling for

$15,200 at the 1974 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale. Bold Forbes went on to become

the champion two-year-old in Puerto Rico. The following year, the speedy dark

bay posted front-running victories in the 1976 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont

S. (G1) and took home the Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old colt.

Comely Nell founded a family that kept producing. From her line, Eaton and

his Red Bull partners bred the unbeaten Grade 1 winner Saratoga Six, English

Group 1 victor Dunbeath and multiple Grade 1 queen Life at the Top, the latter

in partnership with Seminole Syndicate.

Eaton and Red Bull didn't breed another Kentucky Derby winner after Bold

Forbes, but they did play a role in the pedigree of a Run for the Roses

champion. They bred Bali Babe (Drone), who later became the dam of Horse of the

Year Charismatic, the 1999 Kentucky Derby and Preakness S. (G1) hero.

Another key Eaton purchase was Courtly Dee (Never Bend), who would go on to

become the Broodmare of the Year in 1983. For Eaton and Red Bull, she produced

Ali Oop, winner of the 1976 Sapling S. (G1), and Native Courier, a multiple

Grade 3 scorer on the turf.

Eaton sold Courtly Dee, in foal to Alydar, for $900,000 at the 1980 Keeneland

November sale. The resulting foal, Althea, became the champion two-year-old

filly of 1983 and romped in the 1984 Arkansas Derby (G1).

Although Eaton and his partners no longer owned Courtly Dee, they still bred

a couple of top-caliber horses from her daughters. Azzaam, who captured the 1993

Sydney Cup (Aus-G1), is the lesser-known of the pair, for the other was the

brilliant sprinter and influential stallion Green Desert.

A $650,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Darley Stud Management,

Green Desert garnered the 1985 Flying Childers S. (Eng-G2) and July S. (Eng-G3)

as a juvenile. At three, he added the July Cup (Eng-G1), Vernons Sprint Cup

(Eng-G2) and European Free H. to his resume, and finished second in the Two

Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1).

Green Desert has had a global impact at stud, and he is emerging as a sire of

sires. His son Cape Cross (Ire), an English highweight miler, has sired such

luminaries as Sea the Stars and Ouija Board (GB). Two other Green Desert

stallions celebrated wins in the recent Breeders' Cup -- Oasis Dream (GB) sired

Filly & Mare Turf (G1) heroine Midday (GB), while Invincible Spirit sired

Juvenile (G1) upsetter Vale of York (Ire).

Eaton, who had moved to Florida several years ago, was an active member of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

The visitation is scheduled for Friday, 5 to 8 p.m. (EST), at the Baird-Case

Funeral Home, 4343 North Federal Highway, in Ft. Lauderdale (954-492-4000). The

funeral will follow next Saturday at 11 a.m. at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, 5555

North Federal Highway, Ft. Lauderdale, 33308 (954-771-8840).

Expressions of sympathy may be shown by sending flowers, or by donations to

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.