Virginia Owner Sheilah Rathbun Dead

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Sheilah Rathbun, who owned a successful breeding and racing operation near Middleburg, Va., with her husband, Henry, died Jan. 10 in Arlington, Va., from complications from emphysema. She was 81.

The Rathbuns bred four stakes winners together, and three others were bred in Henry Rathbun's name. Four of the seven raced either for both of them or Sheilah Rathbun. Miss Otis was a graded stakes winner at Belmont Park, and Shiny Sheet won five stakes from 2002-04, including the John W. Rooney Memorial Handicap at Delaware Park last June.

Born in California, Sheilah Rathbun was an accomplished rider at an early age, competing in horse shows and playing polo. In the 1970s and '80s, she was a member of the Middleburg Hunt. A conservationist, she was active in efforts to conserve open space and farmland in Virginia.

In addition to her husband, Rathbun's survivors include two daughters and a son.

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