NEWS
A partnership of best friends
Posted: Saturday, August 10, 2002
WinStar Farm owners Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner are a formidable new team in the industry
KENNY TROUTT and Bill Casner are new names to most in the Thoroughbred industry, but they are far from novices. Troutt and Casner burst into the industry's consciousness in 2000 when they purchased what was then called Prestonwood Farm near Versailles, Kentucky, from brothers Art, Jack, and J. R. Preston.
Kenny Troutt
Birthdate: January 8, 1948
Birthplace: Mount Vernon, Illinois
Residence: Dallas, Texas
Education: Southern Illinois University
Principal businesses: WinStar Farm; formerly CEO of Excel Communications
Family: Lisa (wife), three children
Bill Casner
Birthdate: March 12, 1948
Birthplace: El Paso, Texas
Residence: Southlake, Texas
Education: Tarleton State University
Principal businesses: WinStar Farm, B & R Equipment
Family: Susan (wife), two children
Birthdate: January 8, 1948
Best horses raced by Win Star Farm: Bet Me Best (Casner), Dianehill (Ire), Happily Unbridled, License Fee, Mr. Mellon (in partnership with Tom VanMeter), Sicy d'Alsace (Fr) (Casner in partnership with Jack and Art Preston), Silken (GB), Stage Call (GB)
The names of Troutt and Casner then began to appear with regularity on sales summaries as buyers at some of the industry's highest-profile auctions. In 2000, the name of Kenny Troutt's wife, Lisa Troutt, ranked at the top of the list of buyers of broodmares with 20 purchases for $14.8-million.
Although Troutt and Casner have emerged as participants at the highest levels of the sport over the past five years, both were hands-on participants at a far different level about 20 years ago. In fact, both Troutt and Casner were intimately familiar with a pitchfork and other basics of Thoroughbred racing at an early age before they left the industry in the early 1980s to pursue more lucrative business ventures.
Casner grew up horse crazy in El Paso, Texas, and began to gallop Thoroughbreds at local Sunland Park as a teenager. He put himself through college at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, by galloping such horses as champion Chou Croute at various racetracks around the country, and then he embarked on a career as a trainer after graduation.
Raised in the housing projects near East St. Louis, Illinois, Troutt got into Thoroughbred racing through an uncle. After graduation from Southern Illinois University, he entered business in Omaha, Nebraska. Troutt owned nearby Land View Farm for six years until 1982, when he moved to Dallas.
Casner and Troutt met and became fast friends when they both tried to claim the same horse at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack in Omaha.
Over the next 15 years, Troutt became chief executive officer of the telecommunications firm Excel Communications and Casner built the heavy equipment company B & R Equipment, earning millions in the process. By the mid-1990s, both men found themselves with both the time and the money to re-enter Thoroughbred racing at a far different level, and opportunity found them in the persons of the Preston brothers.
After 30 years, Troutt and Casner remain the closest of friends, and the reasons why their partnership works become immediately evident in conversation. Like partners in a long, successful marriage, the old friends often finish each other's sentences or supplement the other's comments. Each understands and respects the other man's strengths and is happy to give room to display them.
They are both passionate and opinionated about Thoroughbred racing, racehorses, and the direction the industry should take.
Troutt and Casner were interviewed by Thoroughbred Times Bloodstock/Sales Editor John P. Sparkman on July 15, the day of the first session of the Keeneland July sale of selected yearlings, at their private conference room in the Keeneland pavilion.
Thoroughbred Times: Why did you decide to get back in the Thoroughbred industry in the mid-1990s?
Bill Casner: "When I walked away from the racetrack, I thought I'd never get back into racing. I thought I'd extinguished the flame. If it was convenient to watch the Kentucky Derby (G1), I'd watch it, but I'd never go out of my way.
"[On] opening day of Lone Star [Park] in '96, I met Art Preston, and Art invited me down to his training center in Central Texas that Michael Dickinson had developed for him, and he kept after me to come down and look at it. Finally, one day [my wife] Susan and I drove down there. I walked through the shedrows and, [saw] those horses hanging their heads out, and [went] out and watch[ed] them train.
"I'll never forget, the next day, I drove to the store and got a Racing Form. And then the next night I went and got another one. And the next night when I bought the third one, I knew something was happening, and that was when the fire reignited. Racing is one of those things that's a passion. Once you have it, it may be dormant, but it remains.
"I started working on Kenny, and in the beginning he was non-receptive.
"The way we really got back in [was] we formed a partnership called Full Circle Racing, and Kenny said, 'Ah, hell, I'll do that; it's no big deal. It'll give us something to talk about.' It was Kenny, Pete Wittmann, Art Preston, and me.
"Art was really very instrumental in it. Of course, Art [and his brothers] had the farm here and it was the ideal partnership really, because we were able to be reintroduced to the business. There was a 16-year gap there."
Kenny Troutt: "When I got ... to know [the Prestons], that was when they had Victory Gallop. So, all of a sudden we were sitting next to a person that was living the dreams we'd had 20 years ago. I think that when I really crossed over was when we went to Saratoga [Race Course] and saw him [Victory Gallop] win the Whitney [Handicap (G1)].
"You're right there and part of the emotional thing. And Bill had the pleasure of going with Art to the Belmont [Stakes (G1)]. If you've been around horse racing, you know that if it's not your horse, the second-best thing is being around someone that has the [big] horse. That kind of really caught the bug for me."
TT: How did the purchase of Prestonwood come about?
Casner: "It was Art and Jack Preston who brought us into the highest level of the game. They allowed us to be part of their experiences and their world when they were at the top of the game. They invited me to Dubai-I mean it was absolutely a tremendous time."
Troutt: "And the people that they introduced us to, to [WinStar trainer] Elliott [Walden], and to [WinStar General Manager] Doug Cauthen. They were very gracious to take us under their wing and kind of fill the gap of that 20 years we were missing. We can't thank those two guys enough for what they did for us."
Casner: "They guided us through the waters at the beginning and helped us avoid some early mistakes. Even though we'd had experience, it was a whole different level. You're very vulnerable when you get back into the game and you're very emotional and you've got money in your pocket-"
Troutt: "Emotion and money don't mix."
Casner: "When J. R. Preston had throat cancer, I think they felt they had always done everything as a threesome. It was a business decision, an estate-planning move, that was necessary, and that was when Art mentioned that they may possibly want to sell the farm. That was the ideal way for us to get back in."
TT: Where does the name WinStar come from?
Casner: "Actually my wife, Susan, was instrumental in that. There was a meteor that fell on the property, I guess a thousand years ago. That was the 'star' and Susan put the 'win' in there."
Troutt: "It kind of brings together what everybody in horse racing is all about. You have the star athlete and then they want to win races."
Casner: "It's also kind of like the wishing star. This is a dream that's come true for a couple of guys that started out at the very bottom."
TT: WinStar seems to be on the cutting edge with technology such as the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Is that a general policy?
Troutt: "It's a little bit about our philosophy. When you look at any industry, if you do what other people do, you will get what other people get. The only way that you're going to improve is to step out of the box. And you can step out of the box in a lot of ways: in your philosophies of how to raise horses and how to do different things.
"But Bill is the man that's on the leading edge of that stuff. He's very passionate about it, very committed to the health and stamina of these horses. But one of the things that Bill and I talked about when we started doing this was to try to take the good things that other people were doing but to try to take the things that we thought they were weak in and stepping up, and the hyperbaric was just one of many examples we can give."
Casner: "In partnerships, the different [partners] have strengths and weaknesses. Kenny's strength is the business side. In forming the business plan for our farm and understanding the direction of the industry, he has established all that. He has stepped out of the box on the business side. We're doing some things that he learned from his previous businesses, and he's applying that to our business. That's probably the most critical part. You have to have a strong business plan.
"On my side, I like the horse side. I come from a training background and I like the rehabilitation. I like to work on those methods that will produce a stronger, better horse. Injuries are such a prevalent part of our industry. I'm always looking for ways to try and help our horses."
TT: How would you describe your overall plan for WinStar, primarily commercial or primarily private?
Troutt: "We're kind of a mixture. WinStar itself-I say this jokingly, but this is the way it is-when Bill and I like the same horse, it's WinStar. If he likes the horse and I don't, then it's under Casner [or vice versa]. What we have made a commitment to is to be, first of all, cash-flow positive. WinStar in two years was cash-flow positive, and we do that by selling. I race my horses; that's something I enjoy because I'm trying to get that stud. And we've worked out different partnerships.
"One thing we have to do is get colts to the racetrack, and then [hope] one of them comes back home. In this business, to be profitable you're forced to do multiple things. You must sell some, you must race some, and you also must sell some of your better horses.
"Probably the best-looking horse we've got on the place is being sold tomorrow [the $3.1-million Keeneland July sale topper by Storm Cat]. Last year, we sold our best one, a Mr. Prospector, and got $2-million for him. That enables us to be cash-flow positive and to be able to invest in colts like Tiznow and we're partners in Taylor Made with Our Emblem.
"I would say we're a complete type of organization. But we are a private farm. Only horses belonging to Bill and me are on WinStar."
Casner: "One thing in the horse business and in partnerships that you have to work out is the difference of opinion in trying to create a balance. That's basically what we've done, and it's worked. Everything's under the WinStar umbrella."
Troutt: "Bill and I are 30-plus years of being very close friends, and not just Bill and me, but our families are very close friends. The one thing we did not want to do is jeopardize that relationship. A lot of times when you go into partnerships, you can put stress on it. I think that we foresaw a lot of that and we worked out business rules to eliminate that."
Casner: "Stallions are the top of our business plan. Everything really channels toward that."
TT: Speaking of potential stallions, you attracted quite a bit of attention retroactively for turning down War Emblem.
Troutt: "This is something that we both were concerned about, and we went to our people and said, 'You did the right thing.' Ninety-nine times out of 100, that horse would not have done what he did. It shows how exceptional this athlete is.
"The thing that I feel good about is, we found him way before anybody else did, and we were on it. I think we made the right business decision and turned it down. What doesn't get a lot of attention is that we also almost bought Xtra Heat after three races, and we turned her down, too.
"The great thing about horse racing is you turn one horse down and he wins the [Kentucky] Derby and you vet one of your own, keep it, and he can't outrun a fat man. It's an amazing game.
"I never thought in the world that [War Emblem would] win the Derby. But when he did, I didn't feel bad. I felt very good for Mr. [Russell] Reineman, the Prince [Ahmed bin Salman], and Mr. [Bob] Baffert. They took the gamble when we chose not to and they won."
TT: Roughly how many horses in training are you offered a year and what percentage do you take?
Troutt: "I don't know what the number is, but one of the things we do is we have people that work for us that all they're doing is watching tapes. And Bill, when he goes to the farm, if he watches something and likes it, he gives it to our people, and the same with me, the same with Elliott, and Doug. Then, we have several agents that are looking for us, and Jerry [Brown of Thoroughgraph] advises us with some of them.
"We get turned down probably 95% of the time. Horses offered to us, we turn down a high percentage. We have a model that we're looking for, and they've got to fall into those parameters."
TT: How large is your broodmare band now, what is your goal, and what are your criteria for choosing broodmares?
Troutt: "I think the total is about 80 together. I don't look for it to get much bigger. I believe that you must have a fixed number. Then, if you put one in, you've got to take one out. It does several things for you. It always improves your broodmare band and [you do not] keep too many marginal mares. And, also, it keeps cash flow going, which is very important. When you have 80 mares that you've got to breed to 80 studs, you've got to generate that cash flow to keep going forward.
"Every year, every month, we sit down and go over what's happened, and go reset your goals and everything. You've always got to be flexible. If there were a big dispersal and we had the opportunity to pick up ten mares, then we'd have 90 instead of 80, but you've got to have that set number. The last thing you want to do is like some of these guys, you wake up and you've got 150 and the game's not fun anymore, nor profitable."
TT: What are your criteria for selecting broodmares?
Troutt: "Conformation is the number one thing."
Casner: "She's got to be a pretty broodmare."
Troutt: "And, then, as close as we can get to that within the dollar budget is the pedigree to go along with it, and then the racing. We've run a lot of statistics that, what are the numbers exactly, [something like] 5% of the broodmares are stakes winners, but they produce 36% of the stakes winners. So, we're building a broodmare band that not only has those two things but the conformation that goes with it.
"Sometimes, you have to give a little bit on something. It's very difficult to get the ideal package. That's why we have to race so many and sell so many."
TT: How did the partnership with Taylor Made Farm come about?
Troutt: "One of the weaknesses we felt in this industry was that farms didn't work together. You compete and then drive up the price. We saw that when we had the opportunity for Fusaichi Pegasus. It got crazy. No one was willing to work together and [everyone] wanted to fight each other.
"So we said, hey, there's nothing wrong with being partners. And the Taylor boys are very creative guys and they're very passionate about this business, and they're touching all aspects of it. They're in it to make money and put the ego aside as much as you can in this business. And we already had a relationship with them on Kris S. It [the partnership on Kris S.] gave them an opportunity to meet Bill and me and see what kind of people we were. It kind of developed from that. Bill got to spend a lot of time with the Taylor boys, and I've gotten to spend some time.
"We're very open to any farm. The Taylors are very good for us, because certain stallions would really fit their place far better than ours, because they have access to a lot more mares than we do. When we stand a stud, it's got to have that glitter on it that they [breeders] come to us, because we don't really have the mares. And then, like anything else, it reduces the cost and reduces your exposure.
"With Our Emblem, now it's our third deal after Tiznow and Kris S. So far, it's been a really good partnership."
Casner: "It's a great synergy. We have strengths and they have strengths and you put the two together and you magnify those strengths. One plus one equals three, so to speak."
TT: What are your criteria for stallions?
Troutt: "You know there's only so many available out there. So far, we've been lucky. Tiznow is an exceptionally good-looking racehorse and an exceptionally talented horse, and an outcross. His pedigree-though it's not blueblood like Our Emblem-it's still a quality pedigree. That mare's [Tiznow's dam, Cee's Song] very special. And Our Emblem is one of the best-bred horses in Kentucky."
Casner: "It's the mother lode of the gene pool."
Troutt: "Ideally, you would like to have Tiznow's looks and talent with Our Emblem's pedigree, plus Our Emblem has proven that he can get a Derby winner."
Casner: "We're incredibly excited about Our Emblem. That was a horse we really went after. He's a proven stallion prospect. He has all of the ingredients. He's a horse you can send your best mare to and not worry. You want to send your top mares to a proven stallion, and [with] a young stallion there's a little bit of a reservation there on your top mares.
"We're very excited about [WinStar freshman stallion] Distorted Humor. You know, Awesome Humor just won the Grade 3 at Churchill [Debutante Stakes (G3) on July 6]."
Troutt: "I have to point out we sold that mare in foal carrying Awesome Humor."
Casner: "That filly ran a 5 1/2 Ragozin number, which, I think that's the best Ragozin for a two-year-old this year. [Distorted Humor has] had a very high percentage of winners to starters, so we're very excited about his prospects. He had a moderate group of mares the first year and he's really proven he can get a runner."
TT: Kenny, you recently gave $100,000 to begin the Race Track Chaplaincy of America's White Horse Fellowship, which will help benefit and explain chaplaincies at racetracks and honor backstretch workers who perform unselfish acts of heroism. How did you become involved with the organization?
Troutt: "That's an organization that both my wife and I are very, very excited about. My wife is a very, very strong Christian, and I've become a strong Christian because of her and [jockey] Pat Day and Elliott.
"Because of my background, growing up in the housing project, I see the real need for this. When I first started talking to Elliott and Pat, I thought the racetracks actually funded [the Race Track Chaplaincy of America]. I didn't know they just allowed them to [operate at the tracks]. I saw the real gap there, the need for and not enough financing.
"I thought this was a great opportunity for me to, first of all, give back-and Bill has done the same-but also it allows my wife and me to be involved in something that we both feel very strongly about. We're very excited about what they're trying to accomplish.
"This is something I feel that is really, really needed. We're an industry of gambling; on the backstretch, everywhere you go there's a lot of drinking and drugs and prostitution and so forth, and it gives us the opportunities to really help a lot of people."
TT: What's your perception of the role of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and its record so far, and what suggestions do you have to attract more folks like you to racing?
Troutt: "I believe that you have to have one general. ... If you look at all successful sporting industries, such as baseball, football, basketball, there is one person that makes the decisions. It doesn't mean that you don't have a labor union, but one man makes the decisions based on all the information and a board of owners.
"We don't have that. What we have is every time you're on a committee and you get discouraged with it, you say, okay, I'm going to go over here and start my own organization.
"So you have NTRA, XYZ, YCA; you have every initial you can imagine and no leadership. A lot of good, quality people, but you don't have any leadership. We really, really have got to get that kind of leadership or we're going to fail.
"The racetrack people are an aging group. If you look around at racetracks, it's a very old population, and the only young ones there are little kids that mom and dad took. I think there's got to be a way to educate them and you've got to simplify it. You've got to simplify how they learn this business to allow these people to come out and enjoy it. I think there are a lot of ways of doing that.
"The other thing is the industry is changing and we must change with it. The slot machines are here. And it is proven where slot machines become a part of the racetrack, the racetrack flourishes. I think if we bring these two things together so they become a whole and we teach this group [slots players] how to [play horses], you can take a group and preach to them every day, and no matter how negative they are, some of them will come. And, then, when they get passionate about it, they start selling themselves."
Casner: "As far as Kentucky goes, we're really going to have to be very strong as a group of breeders. Right now, it's fractured. There's not a unity. The breeders are going to have to come together and support those political candidates that will help our industry. I think that's one thing that's probably been lacking.
"Like Kenny said, educate and go through the process so that everybody's going to understand the benefits. If we don't adapt, they take this industry so much for granted. The state of Kentucky gave $144-million to Toyota to bring their factory. They have an $80-billion industry here that they totally ignore. There's been $2.5-million of support that they've given to the horse industry and that was for the [Kentucky] Horse Park. They totally ignore the golden goose, and it will go away if they do not help support it. And when it goes away, the essence of Kentucky goes away."
Troutt: "One of the things I always said when I was running the company was you always have to keep your vendors treating you like a new customer, not like an old customer, because new customers always get the best customer care, the best service, and the best deal. I think what the state of Kentucky has done is treated the industry as an old customer [and said], 'You can't leave, you're here. I'm going to spend my money on the new guy.'
"This is why I think if we had one entity that was in charge of this charging the hill, you'd have someone in there getting that changed."
Casner: "There's one other deal we're going to introduce at the [Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association] function at our farm during the September sales. Elizabeth Jensen, who does a lot of our public relations work, it's something she conceived of to benefit the industry. She's formed the business plan.
"It's called the Race for Education. It's a charitable program that the whole industry can participate in, basically a scholarship program to help so many of the people in our industry, farm workers, kids of farm workers that may not have the opportunity to go to college. It's something that's gathering a lot of momentum and it's going to be a wonderful program that will be very positive and create a positive image for our industry. We're just one of many participants."
