On the death of his father Stephen in 1913, John Sanford inherited Hurricana Stock Farm. His father had been successful in racing and John Sanford would become a major figure in the industry. He raced a number of top horses and in 1916 won the Kentucky Derby with his colt, George Smith. In 1923 he became the first American to win the most prestigious steeplechase race in the world when his horse Sergeant Murphy won the English Grand National. In 1923, Sanford won the American Grand National with Best Play.
John Sanford was member of the New York Racing Commission and the Sanford Stakes, run annually at Saratoga Race Course, is named in his family's honor.
He married at Sanford, Florida, February 17, 1892, Ethel Sanford, born on September 2, 1873, at Brussels, Belgium and died on November 13, 1924[3] in New York City. She was a daughter of Hon. Henry Shelton Sanford and Gertrude Ellen Dupuy. Henry Shelton Sanford was the accomplished diplomat and successful businessman and founder of the city of Sanford, Florida.
John and Ethel were the parents of the following three children:
Sara Jane Sanford, born in Amsterdam, New York, November 8, 1900. She married Italian diplomat, Mario Pansa in 1937.
Gertrude Sanford Legendre, was born in Aiken, South Carolina, March 21, 1902, and was an American socialite who served as a spy during World War II. She was also a noted explorer, big-game hunter, environmentalist, and owner of Medway plantation in South Carolina.[4] She was inspiration for Philip Barry's 1929 play "Holiday", made into a classic movie starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
Death
He died in Saratoga, New York, in 1939 and was interred in the family plot in the Green Hill Cemetery in Amsterdam, New York. His once renowned breeding farm and training facility in Amsterdam has fallen into severe decay. In 2007, the "Friends of Sanford Stud Farm" was formed by a former Sanford jockeyLouis F. Hildebrandt in an attempt to raise the funds necessary to restore the property.[5]
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