Ellen Parker, a longtime pedigree analyst and turf writer and a 17-year resident of Paris, Kentucky, passed peacefully on the evening of Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at Baptist Health Lexington. Having predeceased her beloved husband, Ron Parker, by a year, Ellen succumbed from a broken heart.
Born in Saint Marys, Ohio, to loving parents Bill and Carol Koenig, Ellen developed her early love for horses into a lifelong obsession after seeing Round Table race at Arlington Park in Chicago in 1956. Ellen's career started at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California as an assistant publicist, and she went on to become a turf writer and racing editor.
Ellen is well-known for her pedigree analyst work on Thoroughbred bloodlines, and with her husband she began the monthly newsletter Pedlines, which she considered one of her greatest achievements. Ellen also wrote a non-fiction book on the famed Round Table as well as consulted on a documentary regarding Thoroughbred racing.
A longtime member of the National Turf Writers & Broadcasters, Ellen wrote for or served as an editor for many publications, including American Turf Monthly, California Thoroughbred, The Northern California Thoroughbred, and Washington Thoroughbred.
Although Ellen's regard for all horses was in mostly equal measure, her love affairs with Round Table, Brown Bess, and most recently California Chrome set the standard for what she considered the best of the best. Ellen covered Brown Bess' entire racing career extensively when she was the Northern California correspondent for California Thoroughbred, and she visited Round Table regularly at Claiborne Farm in Paris until he died in 1987.
Ellen and Ron attended several editions of the Breeders' Cup Championships all over the U.S. They enjoyed traveling, especially to Bermuda.
Besides horses, Ellen loved Ron, cats, the British royal family, and crime and sci fi novels and movies, not necessarily in that order! Known for her sharp intelligence, fine sense of humor, and discerning taste, Ellen will be greatly missed not only by the members of the racing world, but also by her many friends near and far.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Old Friends (www.oldfriendsequine.org) or PAWS (Paris Animal Welfare Society) www.pawspets.org
No services will be held.
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