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Mrs
F.D. (Katherine) Sinclair Passes Away
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Mrs.
F.D. (Katherine) Sinclair, world-renowned Saddlebred exhibitor
and breeder of numerous World Champions, has passed away June
30 at her Tulsa, OK, home at the age of 82.
Born
Katherine Quinlan in Oklahoma on June 4, 1921, her father, Charles
Patrick Quinlan, was an oil businessman and aristocrat who started
the family’s legendary Glenview Farm with a 700-acre parcel
that she continued to add to throughout her life.
Married
to her first husband in the 1940s, Jim Gallagher, she remarried
after his death in 1965 to Dr. F.D. Sinclair. Her amazing impact
on the Saddlebred Fine Harness world is legendary. She began showing
a five-gaited horse named Yankee Clipper at an early age during
the onset of World War II, under the instruction of her first
trainer, Hugh Dempsey. It would be years before she would begin
to make her name in the fine harness division – her passion.
Longtime
friends with some of the greatest names in the Saddlebred world,
Sinclair’s associates included Charles and the late Helen
Crabtree who worked closely with her and her long list of successful
World Champions, as well as Sallie Busch Wheeler, whom she competed
against. According to American Saddlebred magazine, one of Sinclair’s
most satisfying “wins” was actually a Reserve Champion
title against Wheeler’s CH A Sweet Treat at the 1997 World
Championships in Louisville.
The
Sinclair/Crabtree partnership was one of the most storied and
successful in Saddlebred history creating a prolific series of
fine harness (open and amateur division) World Champions. Among
the many World Champions was an unmatchable list of show ring
legends including 1972 World Champion CH Supreme Airs, 1973 World
Champion CH Glenview Mandala, the broodmare CH Glenview Radiance,
and 1979-1980 two-time World Champion CH La La Success, not to
mention her list of Broodmare Hall of Fame mares. She was aptly
referred to as the “Grande Dame of the show ring.”
Among
Sinclair’s many involvements was that of Honorary Member
of the Board of Directors of USA Equestrian (formerly AHSA). Her
awards and honors were many and include the 2000 AHSA Ellen Scripps
Davis Memorial Breeders Award.
Funeral
services will be held Thursday, July 3, at 10:00 a.m. at the Christ
the Key Catholic Church, 1520 South Rockford, Tulsa, OK. Memorial
tributes may be sent to the American Saddlebred Museum, 4093 Iron
Works Parkway, Lexington, KY, 40511. Or you can call the Museum
at (859) 259-2742.
USA
Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the
U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship
sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show
jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines
of equestrian competition. As
the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation
has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions
nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including
educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates
who officiate at these shows.
VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian
sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of
excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on
a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its
horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian
federation in the world.
www.equestrian.org
.
