In the 1970s, I bought some cheap horses, then decided that if I was going to be in it, I was going to go big time. So in 2001, Bill Casner, a partner with me in Excel, and I bought a breeding farm, WinStar Farm, together.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Some of my biggest friends are big-time horse owners.
When I was younger, we lived in a horse community.
My dad was the manager at the 45,000-acre ranch, but he owned his own 1,200-acre ranch, and I owned four cattle that he gave to me when I graduated from grammar school, from the eighth grade. And those cows multiplied, and he kept track of them for years for me. And that was my herd.
I was an expert horseman.
I wanted total control and leadership. I wanted to buy the horses and choose the players.
The second purchase was my ranch, Mockingbird Hill. The third purchase was Longhorn cattle.
I'm used to riding horses. My father used to breed horses when I was a child. I grew up in Tipperary, in the country, and lots of people have horses there. If my parents hadn't been in the business, we would have them anyway, as pets. And my cousin Richard is a jockey.
I've bought perfectly healthy horses for a couple of hundred dollars just as they were about to be loaded on a slaughterhouse-bound truck.
I think I was the youngest, fastest-promoted buyer in the history of Bloomingdale's.
One time they traded me for seven horses. Seven stunt horses.