Gross, Gainesway stallion manager, dies

Marion Gross was a fixture at Gainesway for more than four decades (Courtesy of Trapp Communications)

Marion Gross, the long-time Stallion Manager at Gainesway Farm, died in Lexington,

Kentucky, on Monday following a brief illness. An institution in his own right,

Gross worked at Gainesway for 46 years, 41 of them as Stallion Manager.

"It is safe to say that very few working in the horse industry today have not

been affected in some way by the career and work of Marion Gross," Gainesway

President Antony Beck said.

Gross first joined the Gainesway forces when the farm was in its original

location on Versailles Road, adjacent to Keeneland. At a party

commemorating Gross's 40th year at the farm, in 2003, Gainesway founder John

Gaines recalled how he met Marion: "Showed up at our front door on Versailles

Road looking for a job."  Gaines took a chance on "the kid from the

mountains," and he recalled it as one of the best business decisions he ever

made. Gross became the Stallion Manager in 1968.

Gainesway stood only four stallions when Gross arrived in 1963, but

oversaw the expansion of the stallion ranks to a roster of 50 horses in the

early 1980's.