A meaningful chapter in Herringswell Stables’ history drew to a close on December 31 with the retirement of office manager Sue Kenny. The native of Newmarket, England enjoyed a long and varied career in the racing industry in Great Britain, France and Australia before joining us in 2002.

Clients and friends of Herringswell came to know Sue as a fiercely devoted and tireless advocate for Thoroughbred aftercare. It all began many years ago with “the green sticker” – a label attached to every set of Jockey Club papers which passed through our office. It stated that the horse identified in those documents was not bred for slaughter and asked that we be contacted when that horse’s racing career came to an end.

And Sue didn’t stop there. She kept tabs on all of Graham’s former trainees, always springing into action if or when she noticed that a horse appeared to be slipping down through the claiming ranks. On more than one occasion, Sue reached into her own pocket to secure the safe retirement of an off-track Thoroughbred.

Over the past few years, Sue has been recognized publicly for her service to the industry. She was honored by many of her peers as a “SheHero” in 2019, and this past October was a finalist for the Katherine McKee Administration Award, one of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards presented annually by Godolphin.

Sue was an unmistakable presence in the office and a friend to all. She took the time to get to know not only her co-workers, but also our large and diverse client base. And her dedication to the animals in our barns was limitless – be they horses, cats, dogs, goats, pigs and even a wayward turkey who showed up and established himself as our official mascot. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention her afternoon ritual of walking through our Fair Hill barn feeding peppermints to every horse. That’s a legacy that the rest of us will no doubt need to step up and continue!

We’ll definitely miss Sue as part of our daily working lives. But thankfully she, husband Niall, Labrador Sophie and kitty Isabelle live a literal stone’s throw away right here in Fair Hill. So this is not goodbye, but rather “We’ll be seeing you!”

*If you’re interested in keeping in touch with Sue, please feel free to contact us for her personal email address.