EBF Founder Sam Sheppard Dies at 84

[Wandering Eyes]

Sam Sheppard CBE, former chief executive of both the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) and the European Breeders' Fund (EBF), died on Friday evening at his home in Suffolk. He was 84.

His tenure at the TBA ran from 1973 to 1989 and during that time Sheppard was instrumental in setting up the EBF along with the late Peter Willett and Bob McCreery. He remained at the helm of the EBF, which is still going strong more than 40 years later, until his retirement at the end of 2012. By that time the scheme, which is funded by stallion owners, had distributed more than €100 million in prize-money. That figure has now climbed to more than €140 million.

A keen supporter of jump racing and point-to-pointing in particular, Sheppard's background was in the National Hunt sphere. His father Gay was clerk of the course at Newton Abbot, Exeter and Taunton. He and his wife Jane have both been avid supporters of the Thurlow Hunt, which meets just outside Newmarket. Despite having been diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago, Sheppard was still a regular attendee of those meets until recently.

Kerry Murphy, his successor as chief executive of the EBF since 2013, said, “Sam was instrumental in setting up the EBF back in 1983 whilst also heading up the TBA. It is testament to his hard work and determination that the EBF still thrives today and we are proud to pay tribute to his life and contribution to the racing industry which he was so passionate about.”

Having also served as secretary of the International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation, Sheppard was made a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours list of 2014 for services to horse breeding and the rural economy. It was a fitting honour to bestow upon someone who had devoted the majority of his working life to an industry that he adored and which was fortunate to have him in a role which often required his skilful blend of knowledge, tact and charm.

Philip Freedman chaired the British EBF during Sheppard's time with the organisation and he too paid tribute to his drive in setting up the EBF. He said, “For a large part of its life Sam was the EBF. It's hard to imagine that it would have happened or flourished without him. He and Peter Willett were the people who got it off the ground and I know Sam had to be pretty determined to get through some of the opposition to it in the early days.

“I think the role required a great deal of diplomacy – to get everyone involved in the first place and then throughout its life to ensure that it was seen as being a genuinely pan-European body. There were times when some of the other countries felt that he was too partisan in terms of supporting the BEBF, but that's not a fair criticism. He genuinely put the interests of the European Breeders' Fund ahead of any of its constituent members, which is what he quite rightly had to do.”

Louise Kemble, who worked with Sheppard during her time as chief executive of the TBA, added, “Sam was always so helpful and had such knowledge of the industry, and of the people side. In his involvement in the setting up of the EBF and its link up with the Breeders' Cup he was probably ahead of his time with that line of thinking. He was a pioneer in projects that still stand the test of time today.”

Speaking on behalf of the Irish EBF, chairman Joe Foley said, “Sam was a stalwart of the European Breeders' Fund. He deserves a lot of credit for guiding the fund though its initiation stages and was responsible for it becoming the powerful funding mechanism that it is now throughout Europe. 

“For a start he had to persuade stallion owners to contribute voluntarily to a fund to assist prize-money in their nations, and then he had to bring all those countries together under a pan-European banner and get them all to sign up to the memorandum of association for the fund. That was far reaching and far thinking 40 years ago, and the help that the EBF has given to the jurisdictions ever since is a testament to the people who set up the EBF, and obviously to its CEO who ran it for many years, Sam Sheppard.”

In an interview with Owner Breeder magazine to mark his retirement in 2012, Sheppard was asked what it was that had made racing so attractive to him. He replied, “The thoroughbred horse, which is absolutely top of the pops as far as I am concerned. Very close to that are the people I have met and worked with over many years who devote so much of their time to the thoroughbred.

“If you're a stockbroker you can go to work, beat the hell out of the market, go home and forget all about it. The people in racing are remarkable; they eat, drink and sleep the thoroughbred, particularly the breeders. All so enthusiastic; they keep the whole sport going and I admire them enormously.”

So many people in the bloodstock industry who were fortunate enough to have known Sam Sheppard would say the same about him. He is survived by Jane and their sons Ed and Ben, to whom we extend our sincere condolences. 

 

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