Grandview Farm owner Mike Carroll, co-breeder of 2007 champion female sprinter Maryfield, died Feb. 22 in Guelph, Ontario.
Carroll owned and operated Grandview Farm near Belwood, Ontario, from 1992-2018. He bred Maryfield with his business partner John Harvey Jr., and the pair were honored as the Ontario division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's 2007 breeder of the year.
Claimed for $50,000 in a January 2006 race at Santa Anita Park by trainer Doug O'Neill for owners Mark Gorman, Nick Mestrandrea, and Jim Perry, Maryfield hit her stride the following season as the 6-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality won the Distaff Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2) at Aqueduct, the Ballerina Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, and the inaugural edition of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park.
An obituary prepared by the family noted that Carroll thrived off a competitive drive, always trying to "do a better job than the next guy."
"This was apparent in the meticulous manner in which he managed and maintained his farm, both inside and out," the family noted. "Over his 26 years on the farm, his work ethic didn't allow him many vacations, although he often went to Kentucky to visit friends, attend sales, and check in on his horses
A celebration of life will be held at Centre Wellington Museum in Fergus, Ontario at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 24. the family asks that those who plan to attend reserve a spot by June 1 by emailing lenbailey58@gmail.com.
Donations in Carroll's honor can be sent to Hospice Wellington or to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society.
