Edward S. “Ned” Bonnie, ex-MFH of the Long Run Hounds (KY), died on Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Louisville, at age eighty-eight.
He was a Master at Long Run from 1988 to 2014 and served terms as a director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association. He was a complete horseman, conservationist, and a leading equine lawyer for top Thoroughbred breeding farms in Kentucky.
Ned Bonnie owned, broke, trained, and rode field hunters, show hunters, jumpers and steeplechase horses. Ned and his wife Cornelia “Nina” Winthrop Bonnie were partners in a foxhunting dynasty. Their son, Shelby, is a Master of the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA). Ned’s mother-in-law, the late Theodora Randolph, was Master of the Piedmont as was her late husband, Dr. Archibald Randolph. Mrs. Randolph was an Ayer from Boston’s North Shore. Her father was a Master of the Myopia Hunt, and she was related to Neil Ayer of Ledyard Farm, himself a Master at Myopia and one of the major early supporters of Three-Day Eventing in the U.S.
Ned and Nina were married in 1960, and in 1962 they moved to Stonelea Farm in Prospect, Kentucky. There, Ned trained steeplechase horses, while Nina developed a top-class string of show hunters. He rode steeplechase horses into his late fifties and had numerous winners at Oxmoor, Hardscuffle, and the Iroquois in Nashville.
Ned was a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School. While at Yale, he was a member of the esteemed Whiffenpoofs singing group, and music remained an important part of his life.
He was renowned for his expertise in equine matters, and as a young attorney gained prominence with the Dancer’s Image case. The horse had won the 1968 Kentucky Derby, but was disqualified after testing positive for phenylbutazone. Ned ultimately lost the case but created his reputation as a fierce and knowledgeable attorney for the law firm he helped establish, Frost, Brown, Todd. He served as counsel for owners, trainers, veterinarians, jockeys, horse supply companies, farriers, and others in the equine industry.
Ned helped draft the 1978 Interstate Horseracing Act, which regulates interstate commerce with respect to wagering on horseracing. The Act enabled off-track betting on races across the country and led to the simulcast industry which today handles the majority of race wagering revenue nationwide.
“He invented the specialty known as horse track law,” said Louisville attorney Bob Heleringer, author of Equine Regulatory Law. “He was a horseman so he knew the sport, and a lawyer so he knew the law.”
Ned tried hundreds of cases before AHSA and USEF Hearing Committees, Racing Stewards, Commissions and Courts in many racing states.
Author Milt Toby wrote, “By the early 1980s, Ned Bonnie was being recognized as a world authority on equine medication and the law.” Ned continued to be an outspoken advocate for modern equine drug testing and drug research in Kentucky and nationally.
His commitment to fair play and the level playing field for all participants in equine events was paramount. His concern for the welfare of the horse and rider was the motivation for his many recommended rule changes. Many were adopted, leading to safer equine sports. He also authored articles on drug testing, procedural due process requirements, and administering drug rules.
Ned’s accolades are voluminous. Ned, along with his wife Nina, were given the Lifetime Achievement Award from USEF in 2002. As recently as 2016, he was inducted into the American College of Equine Attorneys Hall of Fame (an organization he helped found and of which he was a Fellow). In 2012, Ned was awarded the first Edward S. Bonnie Award (named for him) for Outstanding Kentucky Equine Lawyer for 2012, established by the Kentucky Bar Association, Equine Law Section.
He held memberships and affiliations in organizations, including The Jockey Club, the United States Equestrian Federation, the National Steeplechase Association (as a rider, trainer, and owner, and later as a Steward/Racing Official), the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and the University of Kentucky Equine Research Foundation, to name a few.
Ned was a committed conservationist and was central to setting up the Harrods Creek Land Trust and, later, Oldham Ahead.
Services will be held on April 2, 2018 at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, with visitation at 10:00 a.m. and the Memorial Service at 11:00 a.m. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Community Foundation of Louisville’s Edward S. Bonnie Endowment to benefit the Legal Aid Society.
Posted March 21, 2018