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| Nick Arundel, a "Virginia" Democrat |
Tuesday morning, February 8, 2011, I lost a friend. That friend was Arthur W. "Nick" Arundel who died in his sleep at his beautiful Merry Oak Farm near The Plains, Virginia. I spent a lovely evening with Nick and his gracious wife Peggy at their farm last August having come up to the Plains to do some warranty work on the SafTfence hurdle that Nick so kindly bought from me as a show of support of my new fence.
I spoke to him the Sunday before his death as I heard he was under the weather. When I asked how he was, his response was "the horse will be fine, the horse will be fine". I wished him well and two days later, I received a phone call that he had passed away in his sleep.
I spoke to him the Sunday before his death as I heard he was under the weather. When I asked how he was, his response was "the horse will be fine, the horse will be fine". I wished him well and two days later, I received a phone call that he had passed away in his sleep.
Nick was a young 83 year-old gentleman farmer, publisher and visionary. Nick was also avid horseman and fox hunter too who won two of the most important and coveted timber races in America, the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Virginia Gold Cup, with a horse he owned. That horse who won him fame and glory was a handsome chestnut named SUGAR BEE who was an average hurdler but an exceptional timber horse. I had the good fortune of galloping SUGAR BEE on a daily basis when he was a hurdler and I was newly married 25 year old with no riding talent and out of work and between businesses. A couple of years later, little did I know or even suspect, the horse would put Nick in rare company as very few horses ever won both the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Virginia Gold Cup. SUGAR BEE and Charlie Fenwick, his trainer and jockey, did it, all with the support and enthusiasm only Nick could give.
Nick sold me my first steeplechase horse BREAK CLEAN (aka Dunkin' Donuts) as a failed timber horse in January 1992. Charlie Fenwick, our trainer at the time, told me to buy BC from Nick because he thought the horse was priced right and would give us some fun without the risk of him being "bought" in a claiming race as he was an 8 year old gelding with 40 odd starts, both flat and over jumps.
We bought him for $10,000, a reasonable price back then but with the proviso that the horse could not run over timber (that was safe because the horse hated it) and if the horse won two sanctioned jump races in 1992, we would owe Nick another $5,000. Charlie thought that was a safe bet as he hadn't shown much prior to that, though in fairness to the horse, he was was running above him competitive level. So away we went and by God, the horse won two jump races right out of the gate and I owed Nick another sweet $5k. That cemented our friendship for ever and me into the sport of American jump racing.
Over the years, I had many encounters with Nick, some in private, others at the annual NSA Race Chairman's meetings. He was always pleasant, upbeat and spent much of his time thinking out of the box, and so too did he in growing the Virginia and International Gold Cups into one of the premier equestrian events and steeplechase races in the USA. Some thought he was a nutty professor, others thought he was dumb as a fox but those that really knew him as a giving, thoughtful, generous and visionary entrepreneur, in every aspect and regard. Much of the Brooklandwood racecourse that we designed and built starting in 1997 was the result of listening, observing and copying some of Nick's designs at Great Meadow. I like to think we took the a little of the northern Virginia rolling horse countryside to the North Carolina Piedmont, and maybe, made it even better?
Nick owned 17 weekly newspapers, including publications in Culpeper, Prince William and Fairfax Counties. He also pioneered conservation programs in Virginia's horse country, including the 540 acres that is now home to the Great Meadow Field Events Center.
Arundel is survived by his wife of 53 years, Peggy, and five children
