Prominent North Carolina Breeder Shuford Dies at 79

Accomplished Thoroughbred owner/breeder Nancy Comer Shuford, whose North Carolina farm achieved success on par with her Central Kentucky peers, died June 21 at her home in Hickory, N.C. She was 79. Shuford is remembered by her family and friends for her remarkable spirit and almost inexhaustible energy along with a life rich in humor, joy, and a gift for making lifelong friendships. "It is a shock and a great loss," said Eliza Hucks, Shuford's youngest daughter. "She was a force within our family and in the Thoroughbred industry. My mom had an incredible eye and instinct for great horses. She found my first junior hunter from a field of 40 from Andrea King. Counselor Buck, by Spend a Buck, became a national junior and amateur champion, winning Grand Hunter Champion at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden just to name one. My mom bought him as a 3-year-old off the track." Hucks competed with the United States Equestrian Team and won the American Grand Prix Association Rookie of the Year Award in 1998. Shuford grew up with horses and always had a deep love for them. She attended Chatham Hall and later the University of North Carolina. After her husband Alex finished business school in New York, they moved back to his hometown in North Carolina and purchased a 250-acre dairy farm with no fencing. "We had to start from scratch, but it was fun," Shuford told BloodHorse in January 2025. "We raised four kids. They knew how to feed, they knew how to muck out stalls. That was a good thing. It was a natural thing for me to get into the horses." Shuford was attracted to the commercial side of the breeding business. "I don't race that much. I've raced some, but I just haven't had much luck," she told BloodHorse. "I like the mares, I like the foals, that's what I like to do, so I ended up doing that." For more than 50 years, Shuford built Rock House Farm into one of the country's most accomplished breeding operations, and earned repeated recognition from the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the North Carolina Thoroughbred Association. TOBA honored her as North Carolina Breeder of the Year seven times between 2013 and 2025. Since 1983, she bred 13 black-type stakes winners, led by six graded stakes winners. Her breeding program's most accomplished runner is three-time grade 1 winner and multimillionaire Beach Patrol. The son of Lemon Drop Kid out of Bashful Bertie won the 2016 Secretariat Stakes (G1T) along with the Arlington Million XXXV Stakes (G1T) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) in 2017. She also bred grade 2 winners Pretty N Cool, Texas Wedge, Dancinginherdreams, and Stuff and Things, along with grade 3 winner Speed King. Read: Speed King Puts the 'Little Guys' on Center Stage As an owner, she campaigned homebred stakes winner Doubled, a daughter of Exchange Rate, who won the 2012 Sorority Stakes and placed in three other black-type stakes. Shuford's achievements in racing were many, but they were never simply about trophies. She found more satisfaction in the success achieved after decades of selecting mares, choosing the right matings, patience, and a commitment to the well-being of the horses themselves. Shuford had a long and successful association with Jody and Michelle Huckabay, who own Elm Tree Farm near Paris, Ky. Elm Tree Farm has been operating for more than 37 years and Shuford has been a client for more than 30 of those years. Michelle, who grew up in Hickory, worked for Shuford before she attended the University of Kentucky, where she met Jody. "Nancy took the good news with the bad news and whatever happened, the horses came first," Jody Huckabay said. "She will never be replaced because she understood the business, she loved people, and she loved her horses. And she was very involved, in picking out mares at the sales and in selecting the matings. I would give her two or three choices on each mare, but she had her own criteria and knew what she wanted to do. She absolutely loved the game." Shuford's family said she had a deep affection for all creatures, not only horses. She could often be found nursing injured or orphaned animals back to health, from raccoons and rabbits to birds and countless others that found their way into her care. She was especially passionate about her Jack Russell Terriers, who were constant companions and a source of endless delight. Shuford also will be remembered for the force and color of her personality. She loved a good joke, a funny card, a well-timed remark, a cocktail, and a long talk with friends, according to her family. She had a mischievous, sometimes naughty sense of humor that could surprise and delight those around her. She had a way of making ordinary moments memorable and of bringing spark, laughter, and momentum into every room she entered. She also gave herself fully to every endeavor, approaching whatever came her way with grit, grace, humor, generosity, and a refusal to do anything halfway. She is survived by her husband, Alex Shuford Sr.; her children, Nancy Bledsoe, Alex Shuford III, Comer Wear, and Eliza Hucks; 12 grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and by the family and friends who loved her dearly and will miss her deeply. She was preceded in death by her father, James T. Comer; her mother, Eleanor Comer; and her brother, Jim Comer. A private celebration for family and close friends will be held for Shuford at Rock House Farm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Shuford's honor to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance or The Humane Society of Catawba County.