Cheveley Park Stud Owner Thompson Dies at 84

David Thompson, who along with his wife Patricia built up one of Britain's most important breeding and ownership operations in Cheveley Park Stud, has died of renal failure at the age of 84. 

The Thompsons purchased Cheveley Park outside Newmarket in 1975 and have developed it into a major power on the flat, standing a number of influential sires including Pivotal, and enjoying classic success at home and abroad with Sagitta One Thousand Guineas (G1) heroine Russian Rhythm and Prix de Diane Hermes (French Oaks, G1) winner Confidential Lady. 

David and Patricia Thompson also famously purchased 1992 Grand National winner Party Politics shortly before his Aintree triumph.

Their interest in jump racing has been rekindled in recent years, with a string of high-profile purchases being sent into training with Gordon Elliott, including Envoi Allen.

Cheveley Park Stud's managing director, Chris Richardson, said on Jan. 4: "David Thompson was a very generous, meticulous, sometimes unpredictable man, who always had a certain charm. He inspired everyone with his insatiable enthusiasm for business which, thankfully, included a love of racing and breeding, alongside his wife, Patricia, and their family. 

"He had tremendous foresight and would often ask a question, knowing full well the answer. I always tried to be prepared, as one never knew when the thrill and challenge of another equine adventure would catch his imagination. His latest venture into National Hunt racing proved a huge success and gave him so much pleasure.

"DBT's recent visit to the Cheltenham Sale held in Newmarket, and to the stud, gave him and all here, so much joy. He certainly enriched the lives of all those he met and who knew him. He will be much missed."

Thompson left his family agricultural business in 1968 to strike out on his own and became a hugely successful entrepreneur at the helm of a series of companies that would become Hillsdown Holdings. 

Having created a FTSE 100 company with an annual turnover of £4 billion, Thompson selling his share in the late 1980s, he and Patricia began to channel more of their energies into Cheveley Park, as well as into philanthropic ventures which gave more than £70 million to medical, educational, social, and scientific charities. 

Success on track came early with sprinter Music Boy, and the red, white, and blue silks of Cheveley Park quickly became associated with a series of top-class performers on the flat. 

Pivotal won the Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) in 1996 for trainer Sir Mark Prescott—who would also be responsible for Confidential Lady a decade later—and the son of Polar Falcon certainly lived up to his name with a stellar career at the stud, which continues to this day. 

Cheveley Park's group 1 successes frequently came with fillies, and to Russian Rhythm's four top-level successes at a mile can be added such classy performers as Echelon, Red Bloom, Integral, and 2016 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) winner Queen's Trust—all under the stewardship of Sir Michael Stoute—while Meon Valley Stud Fillies Mile (G1) and Coronation Stakes (G1) heroine Nannina was one of several stars for John Gosden.