Prominent Owner/Breeder Wygod Dies at 84

Martin J. Wygod, one of the Thoroughbred racing community’s most prominent owners, breeders, and supporters died April 12 in California. He was 84.

Wygod was born in New York City, where he was first introduced to the Thoroughbred industry as a hotwalker at Belmont Park. He went to high school with Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel and worked as a hotwalker at 15 for trainers Woody Stephens and Homer Pardue.

After graduating from New York University, he began his entrepreneurial career with the late Fletcher Jones’ Computer Sciences. Jones, who founded Westerly Stud in California’s Santa Ynez Valley, not far from where Wygod would create River Edge Farm, gave Wygod his first two horses, both of which won.

Through hard work, acumen and commitment, he reached the pinnacle of success both in his business career and in the world of Thoroughbred breeding and racing. He was the youngest managing partner of a New York Stock…