My father, Roger Barklam, who has died aged 87, was a broker who specialised in racehorse insurance and whose most notable coup was to devise a bespoke policy for the US thoroughbred Secretariat, widely regarded as one of the greatest racehorses ever.
Secretariat won the Triple Crown of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in the US in 1973, but concerns about his fertility emerged when he went to stud. He failed to meet the criteria of the usual insurance policies designed to cover the possibility of mares failing to become pregnant, and the owners found themselves in a quandary.
However, my father stepped in to devise a new type of plan that would give Secretariat more time to prove himself, and since then veterinary tests have never been needed for assessing fertility cover.
Roger was born in Cardiff to William Barklam, a solicitor to the South Wales Coal Board, and his wife, June (nee Warren), a nurse.
He attended Horris Hill preparatory school, Berkshire, followed by Winchester college, and then went to Oxford University to study history. After two terms, though, he was sent down for not applying himself, but he did enjoy a very active social life.
Instead, he got a job with an company in the US, but became seriously ill and had to remain in Britain. Following a lengthy recuperation, he managed to secure a position as a broker at Lloyd’s in marine insurance.
During his recuperation he also met Angela Butters, whom he married in 1962. They settled in Odiham, Hampshire, and remained there till 1998, when they moved to Milton Lilbourne, Wiltshire.
At Lloyd’s he met Tony Hughes-Gibb, who was about to form a bloodstock insurance firm. My father was persuaded to join the venture as a broker, and eventually, when Hughes-Gibb retired in the 1970s, he became managing director and later chairman of the firm, Hughes-Gibb.
Throughout his career, my father had the talent of switching effortlessly from being a no-nonsense businessman into an effervescent charmer. He cut a debonair and dashing figure at official functions, but his more usual style of dress consisted of baseball caps and an array of startlingly bright jackets, trousers and socks.
After he retired aged 75, he remained an avid racegoer, visiting Ascot and Newbury on a regular basis. He also socialised a great deal and attended many benefit dinners and charity functions.
Angela died in 2002. He is survived by his children, Sam, Ant and me, and seven grandchildren, Henry, Ana, Charlie, Freddie, Sam, William and Bertie.
