Veteran Kildangan Stud Employee Dies

Michael Buckley, nominations manager at Darley's Kildangan Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, died suddenly at his home Jan. 12, according to a statement from the farm. He was 45.

Buckley, who had worked at Kildangan since August 2000, "was a hugely popular and widely respected figure in the European bloodstock business," Darley said.

"We are all shocked and heartbroken about this terrible news," Joe Osborne, managing director at Kildangan, said in a statement.

Buckley's survivors include his wife, Caitriona, sons Jamie, Andrew and Robbie, and parents Donal and Pauline Buckley.

"His family has requested privacy at this difficult time. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days," Osborne said.