Angel Penna, Jr. Passes Away at 74

Angel Penna, Jr., who trained Eclipse Award winners Christmas Past and Laugh and Be Merry and was the son of Hall of Famer Angel Penna, Sr., passed away Tuesday at age 74.

Battling dementia, Penna passed away in his sleep in a memory care facility near his home in Boca Raton, Florida.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Penna was an assistant to his father before going out on his own in 1980. His clients at the time included Cynthia Phipps, who raced in the colors of Wheatley Stable, her grandmother's stable, which also had bred and raced Bold Ruler. Phipps owned Christmas Past, who failed to break her maiden in two starts as a 2-year-old, but put it all together the following year. Named the champion 3-year-old filly of 1982, she won five stakes that year, including the GI Coaching Club American Oaks, the GI Gulfstream Park H. and the GI Ruffian H.

Laugh and Be Merry was owned by Pin Oak Farm and was named champion grass mare of 1990. She won three stakes that year, including the GI Flower Bowl H.

“He loved his horses,” said his widow Ruth. “As you know, he was a good trainer. He took a lot of pride in bringing them to the races.”

Other top horses trained by Penna include Perfect Arc, Silver Voice, Via Borghese, Auntie Mame, A Phenomenon and Diamondrella. His clients also included Martha Gerry's Lazy F. Ranch.

According to Equibase, Penna had 586 wins in his career and earnings of $24,084,854. He made his last start on Nov. 4, 2021.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his stepmother Elinor Penna.

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Pin Oak Stud’s Abercrombie Passes at 95

Lifelong horsewoman Josephine Abercrombie died peacefully at her home on Pin Oak Stud in Woodford County, Kentucky Jan. 5. She was 95. Abercrombie is survived by two sons, George Anderson Robinson IV and Jamie Abercrombie Robinson, as well as grandchildren George Anderson Robinson V and Blair Abercrombie Robinson.

Abercrombie, the only child of Texas oilman and Cameron Iron Works founder J. S. “Mr. Jim” Abercrombie and Lillie Frank Abercrombie, was born Jan. 15, 1926, in Kingston, Jamaica. Growing up in Texas, her love of horses begun at a young age, evolving into a passion of American Saddle Horses, which led to her winning a 17 of 20 classes–the most blue ribbons during a single season–at Madison Square Garden. She was also one of only a handful of amateurs to show a World Grand Champion. Her passion for the sport, combined with her strong desire to support civic projects, led her to join her father in creating the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show in the mid-1940's, which supported the Texas Children's Hospital. Abercrombie's success on the horse show circuit eventually led her to major competitions in Kentucky, where she fell in love with the land and the horses.

Turning her energies toward Thoroughbred breeding and racing in the 1950's, she and her father purchased 4,000-acre Pin Oak, in Woodford County, Kentucky, and after 35 years on the original Pin Oak tract–where they raised cattle and grew tabacco–Abercrombie decided to move to a smaller 750-acre farm–named Pin Oak Stud–just down the road to focus solely on Thoroughbreds. A hands-on owner, she was present at many of the births of her Thoroughbreds and was active in the early schooling of young racehorses. Pin Oak hombreds were campaigned in her blue and gray racing silks, the school colors of her alma mater Rice University.

Pin Oak Stud has nearly 70 stakes winners–bred or raced-to its credit, including Classic winners in America and England and Grade I/Group 1 stakes winners in three countries. Among Pin Oak's homebreds are 1990 champion grass mare Laugh and Be Merry (Erins Isle {Ire}) and GISW Confessional (Holy Bull) in addition to top colts who went on to become successful stallions, including 1995 Canadian Horse of the Year and champion sophomore Peaks and Valleys (Mt. Livermore) and MGSW and GISP Broken Vow (Unbridled).

A total of 23 mares and foals were offered at Fasig-Tipton in a dispersal of Pin Oak Stud's stock this past September. Headlining the dispersal with a $650,000 finial bid was MGSW Don't Leave Me (Lemon Drop Kid), who was in foal to Authentic.

Recognized as the National Breeder of the Year, she also has been honored by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders with the Hardboot Award as well as the William T. Young Humanitarian Award. Additionally, Abercrombie was inducted into the Texas Horseracing Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was the Honor Guest of the Thoroughbred Club of America in appreciation for her “enduring sportsmanship, acumen and vision, and her devotion to the loftiest principles established by earlier leaders on the Turf.”

With a strong sense of responsibility to future generations, Abercrombie provided generous philanthropic support of civic, educational, and Thoroughbred industry projects, including support of her alma mater Rice University and the founding of The Lexington School.

Funeral arrangements are private. Contributions in Abercrombie's memory can be made to The Lexington School, attention Una McCarthy, 1050 Lane Allen Road, Lexington, KY 40504; Woodford Humane Society, attention Katie Hoffman, P.O. Box 44, Versailles, KY; or the Thoroughbred Charities of America, attention Erin Crady, P.O. Box 910668, Lexington, KY 40591.

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