Veteran horseman John Quentin Thornbury died Sept. 8 in Lexington at 87. A Kentucky native, he owned Sunnyside Farm near Paris, Ky., with Dr. Robert Copelan.
Thornbury, a World War II veteran, started in the Thoroughbred industry at Calumet Farm near Lexington. He left Kentucky to work at Rosemere Farm near Ocala, Fla., and later managed Old Mill Farm for Hall of Fame trainer Horatio Luro and his wife, Frances, near Cartersville, Ga.
After returning to Kentucky, Thornbury and Copelan purchased Sunnyside Farm, where they operated a breeding, breaking, training, surgery, and recuperation enterprise for 50 years.
Thornbury, a former president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club, was honored as 1971 Farm Manager of the Year. He was also instrumental in founding the Kentucky Equine Education Program.
Thornbury, who attended the University of Kentucky, served as a paratrooper in World War II, during which he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
His survivors include his wife, Georgie; daughters, Brownie and Joy; and sons John Jr., Thomas, and Jeffrey. Thomas is associate director sales at Keeneland, and Jeffrey owns the insurance firm The Oakland Agency near Versailles, Ky., and is a trainer.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made to Hospice of the Bluegrass.
