Former Walmart CEO Bill Simon has found himself on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with a horse purchased for the Keeneland November Sale "rollback" price of $15,000. The colt, named after the street that his wife Tammy grew up on in the small farming community of Seven Springs, N.C., has placed in each of Oaklawn Park's lucrative Kentucky Derby prep races, seeming to progress as the distances grow longer. Recently a close third in the Feb. 26 Rebel Stakes (G2), Barber Road will now tote the blue WSS Racing colors in the starting gate of the April 2 $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby (G2) with the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and even possibly the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), as the Race Day colt's future targets.
Simon, who began in the Thoroughbred industry five years ago with one horse, now boasts a stable of 25 weanlings, yearlings, and horses of racing age. The owner behind WSS Racing speaks with BloodHorse MarketWatch about the creation of his successful business strategy in racehorse ownership, his close relationships with trainer John Ortiz and bloodstock agent Jared Hughes, and his aspirations for the ever-improving Barber Road.
MarketWatch: You've burst onto the national racing scene as the owner of Barber Road, who could be a viable Kentucky Derby contender. How did you initially get involved in horse racing?
Bill Simon: As you know, I worked at Walmart for many years. My wife Tammy and I have been married for over 35 years. She has always been into horses and racing, and I never thought much about them. I used to travel a lot for my job, so when I retired I thought it could be something we could do together after doing a lot of things apart. Some friends got us involved in ownership through a partnership in our first horse, and from there I was just intrigued with the math and numbers involved. And now it's turned into a family business. There's a business model that we're running, and its been very exciting.
MW: Knowing your past history in the business world, how would you compare owning racehorses to running a company?
BS: There's no every day low pricing in horse racing, I can tell you that. From the Walmart perspective, it's not anything like it at all. In our first few years in racing we were experimenting with different things. We bought a few 2-year-olds at a sale, we claimed a bunch at the low level, we claimed a bunch at the high level. We were experimenting to try to develop the best business plan, and I think that's where its similar to running a company. If you're in racing without a particular plan you could have your challenges—you're relying on fate. I think you need a business plan and to find out what you're good at, what your team—your trainer, your bloodstock agent—what they're good at and sort of lean in there, and that's what we're doing.
MW: How did you first become acquainted with trainer John Ortiz?
BS: When we decided to move our operation into a little bit bigger scale, we started interviewing some trainers. We were looking for somebody that had as much passion as we did. And someone on the younger side. There are some great trainers, and we have a few horses with Mike Maker who is just a phenomenal trainer, but Johnny in particular—his knowledge and intuition and skill around the horses is like nothing I've ever seen before. He rides them, he's on them all the time, he's touching them and feeling them, he's in tune with them. It's been exciting for us to watch his development over the past few years as a trainer and as a businessman. He was always great with the horses, but we've seen him develop into a really good businessman. He runs a great barn. People love working for him. I think he's going to be a Hall of Fame trainer one day. He's one of the most phenomenal young trainers in the business right now. And his methods are different. He uses videos, text messages, email, and social media to keep us involved. I know everything that's going on with every one of my horses with Johnny, and that's just how he operates.
MW: How does it feel to own a budding 3-year-old with Barber Road?
BS: It's a blessing. I'm not going to lie to you, it's really cool having a horse that's running at this level. We're just so happy to be involved in the sport with two really young talented people with Johnny and Jared (Hughes) and give them the opportunity. My wife and I have had a lot of successes in life, but this is an opportunity for us to help them, and we get as much a kick out of that as we do anything else.
MW: Barber Road was purchased for the bargain price of $15,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November Sale—what's the story behind how you came to pick him up?
BS: Jared Hughes from Hughes Bloodstock is our bloodstock agent. He's another phenomenal young horseman who's helped us understand the game and pick out our horses. I rarely make a move without consulting Jared. This business plan that we have centers around having horses in every age group. So every year we buy weanlings, and then they grow into yearlings and 2-year-olds. It's taken us a few years to build that cycle. Barber Road was part of that first group of weanlings we purchased. We're really excited about our group coming up this year as 2-year-olds and next year's group as well.
MW: Was there something that caught Hughes' eye about Barber Road at the sale?
BS: We buy fillies on pedigree and colts on confirmation and don't look so much at pedigree for colts. And Jared thought he was a very athletic-looking horse. At the time Race Day wasn't much, but right now he has two pretty hot ones (Barber Road and White Abarrio), so they might want to get him back from Korea.
Even as a weanling (Barber Road) was just a smooth-moving horse with nice conformation, and that's why he bought him.
MW: I noticed Barber Road broke his maiden for $30,000 last fall at Keeneland. Has he been somewhat of a pleasant surprise for you and Ortiz?
BS: It's all been a pleasant surprise. It's been a blessing. You try to run them where you think they have the best opportunity. We knew he was special but we thought, 'Well, you know a $15,000 weanling running in a $30,000 maiden claiming no one is going to take him, so why not give him a really good blow against an easier crowd and get this thing started.' And that's what we did. You have to be brave to take a $15,000 horse running for $30,000.
MW: What do you think about Barber's Road third-place effort in the Rebel?
BS: He's an incredible horse. In each of those three races, the Smarty Jones, the Southwest, and the Rebel, he's found himself in traffic and he sort of bides his time and weaves his way through traffic and then when he sees daylight, he goes. We're really excited about the longer races and the Arkansas Derby. And even beyond that, God willing, we get into the Kentucky Derby or even a chance to run in the Belmont at a 1 1/2 miles down the line. Race Day is bred to go long and we believe Barber Road wants to run long. If you watch every one of his races, he's galloping out ahead of the leader. He just wants to keep going. I think in the Rebel he just saw daylight too close to the finish line and if it was another 20 yards, I think we win the race.
We'll be at the Arkansas Derby and hopefully we'll have a good trip and get our picture taken this time.
MW: What advice would you give to a first-time owner in the industry?
BS: I think patience is very critical. Find a trainer that you can relate to, that runs their business the way you want to run. There's a lot of owners who are great with the old model of training. There are Hall of Fame trainers that do things that way. They might listen to their owners, but they don't teach the owners. I've learned as much from Johnny about the game because he's interested in teaching and he's learned a lot about business from me, I hope. So it's a great relationship. So I would tell someone to try to find a relationship that best suits you. If you want to be an investor from afar there's plenty of trainers to do that with, or if you want to be active and hands-on, you can find trainers to do that as well.
