Derek MacKenzie has been named director of public sales for Vinery, farm president Tom Ludt said Jan. 6.
MacKenzie has been with Vinery for the past three years as yearling manager.
“Derek has been an excellent addition to the Vinery Team,” Ludt said in a statement. “Not only is he a fine horseman with an uncanny sense of detail, but he is a pleasure to work with. I think our clients will find sales representation to be a very positive experience with him at the helm.”
A native of Manitoba, Canada, and a lifelong horse enthusiast, MacKenzie is a 1993 graduate of the Irish National Stud. He was a foreman in the yearling division of Windfields Farm in Ontario before relocating to Kentucky after Windfields’ dispersal in 1996.
MacKenzie then went to work for Japanese businessman Mitsuo Haga as manager of Green Gates Farm. Horses MacKenzie was associated with during that time were multiple champion Kooyonga and four-time grade I winner Lite Light. MacKenzie joined Vinery in April of 2008.