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Former Kentucky Commissioner Tom Conway Dies at 83

Despite a gruff exterior, family and friends said no one had a bigger heart.

Tom Conway (R) and his son Jack (L) in the winner's circle at Keeneland after Stately Victor's win in the 2010 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland

Tom Conway (R) and his son Jack (L) in the winner's circle at Keeneland after Stately Victor's win in the 2010 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland

Anne M. Eberhardt

Former Kentucky Horse Racing Commissioner and owner Francis Thomas Conway died during the evening of Sept. 18 at Baptist Health Hospital in Louisville, according to his family. He was 83.

Conway, a Louisville attorney with a 50-plus year career as a trial attorney, grew up in Union County, Ky., where he first developed his love for horses. He considered Ellis Park his home track.

A racehorse owner for more than 45 years, Conway purchased his first racehorse in the mid-1970s and went on to campaign 11 stakes winners. He realized an owner's dream of having a Kentucky Derby (G1) starter in 2010 with his Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Stately Victor, who he raced with his son and former Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. Stately Victor finished eighth on the First Saturday in May but would later place in six graded stakes, including a third in the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), and retire with $950,704 in earnings.

"He loved to dream. He dreamed he'd won every big race in America before he even paid an entry fee," recalled Jack Conway. "He lived his life with a twinkle in his eye, he believed in having fun, and he brought friends along for the ride."

When his own horses were not involved, Jack Conway said his father was an astute handicapper who usually had found the Kentucky Derby winner on Wednesday or Thursday before the race but then dove so deep into the analytics that he'd find reasons to talk himself out of his initial pick.

"I always went with his Wednesday-Thursday pick. That was always the joke between us on the Derby," he said.

His other top racehorse included grade 3 winners General Jumbo, King Zachary, and Matthewsburg and multiple stakes winners My Sea Castles, General Jack, Mr. Prankster, and Lilly Christine.

Stately Victor (2007, Ghostzapper - Collect the Stash, by Dynaformer, $5,000, Buck Pond Farm, Versailles, Ky.)
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Stately Victor wins the 2010 Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland

Conway served a U.S. Army Military Police Officer stationed in West Germany from 1961-63. Upon returning from service, he used the GI Bill to fund his night law school tuition, while also simultaneously teaching history and coaching football at Fairdale High School from 1963-68. Family members said he had the heart of a teacher and used his teaching skills throughout his life. He was voted the most popular teacher by his students.

He graduated from the University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1968. As an attorney, he possessed the ability to simplify complex matters and present compelling stories to juries. Conway was a businessman, as well, who was involved as a Papa Johns Pizza franchisee and other ventures.

Conway served his community in a variety of other ways.

In addition to supporting multiple charities worldwide and institutions of higher learning, Conway served two terms on the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission 2008-2016.

"Tom was one of my favorite people," said Marc Guilfoil, KHRC executive director. "His exterior was gruff, but no one had a bigger heart than Tom Conway."

Guilfoil found common ground with Conway through Stately Victor, who the Conways named after Victor Perrone, one of Jack Conway's best friends who died in a car accident. Perrone and his brothers were also good friends of Guilfoil's and all went to college together.

"He was a great commissioner, a good friend, and a great ambassador for horse racing," Guilfoil. "We are losing too many people that matter, like Dr. (David) Richardson. What he accomplished in the background getting people together will be hard to replace. He and Tom went about things a different way but the both moved racing forward."

Thomas Conway, at Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY, 4/29/10, Mathea Kelley
Photo: Mathea Kelley
Tom Comway

Conway also served on the board of the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

"He was a great man and a great legal advisor to the horsemen," said KHBPA president Rick Hiles. "He was advocate for Kentucky racing and horsemen's rights and an asset to our organization."

Along with his passion for horse racing, Conway loved to travel, fish, and lived his life with an adventurous spirit. Family and friends said they admired how he treated everyone the same way, regardless of their station in life, and will miss his storytelling and extremely generous nature.

Guilfoil said much of what Conway did to make lives better for others was done discreetly. For example, Conway became aware that many of the fresh water wells installed by UNICEF throughout Africa were failing because of age and use. At his own expense, Conway shipped over replacement parts and arranged for the labor to have wells repaired.

Jack Conway said his father had gotten involved in the water program through Dr. Bill Smock, the police surgeon for the Louisville Police Department and the only person in the United States to hold this type of position within a police department.

"Dr. Smock even got my dad on a plane to Africa to see the work first-hand. He came back and became a bigger supporter of the charity through fundraisers," Conway said.

"He is the classic example of not judging the book by its cover. Once people got past that gruff exterior and talked with him, they wouldn't find a finer human being," Guilfoil added.

Conway was described, too, as a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Barbara White Conway; his brother A.V. Conway; his four devoted children, Jack Conway (Elizabeth), Kelli Conway Gordinier (Henry), Matthew Conway, and Megan Conway Herndon (Terry); and nine grandchildren, Max, Emma, Katie, Reagan, Kiah, Zach, Trey, Eva, and Alex.

The family will receive visitors at a "celebration of life" at the Kentucky Derby Museum, 704 Central Avenue, Louisville, from 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 27. A program of memorial comments will follow at 7:15 p.m. on that day at the same location. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration of donations to The Kids Center (for pediatric therapies).