Farnsworth Farm Founder Dies

Mike Sherman, who built Farnsworth Farm into a Florida powerhouse breeding establishment, died May 7 at his North Miami, Fla., home. He was 71.

Farnsworth was started in the 1950s after Sherman’s father, Isidore, had a man-to-man talk with his son. The younger Sherman planned to attend graduate school and study business at Columbia University and later start a brokerage firm.

“We were on vacation during my senior year in college,” Sherman told The Blood-Horse years later. “The conversation came around to, ‘What would you like to do with your life if you became successful in the brokerage business?’ I said I would like to breed Thoroughbred horses. He asked me why, and I told him about the tax advantages, and I told him Florida was a growing place in the industry. A couple of days later he said, ‘Why wait until you’re 50 to do what you really want to do—why not do it at the beginning?’ So, he bought the farm and I have run it since it started.”

Farnsworth, started in the early 1960s and located near Ocala, concentrated on breeding horses instead of racing them. The farm’s chief stallion during the early days was Bolinas Boy, who sired many of the farm’s initial stakes winners.