The industry should take comfort in knowing that WinStar is my main focus after my faith and family.
— Kenny Troutt
I go to the farm generally every other week, but I'm on the phone with them every day, and I watch every race on TV. Not a day goes by when I'm not working on that.
I have this philosophy that A and B students work for C students.
That kid who lives in the projects, he has a self-esteem problem - everybody looks down on him. He may be a good kid, but other parents don't want their kids to be with them because percentages say they could be bad. I went through a lot of that.
I was in oil when oil was $8 a barrel and in construction when interest rates were 20 percent. I was looking for something everyone used and where you could build a customer base - and if it was successful, you could take it nationwide and even worldwide.
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.
My mom was born poor, raised poor, and was going to die poor.
I say a little prayer every time I see a race. I say a little prayer that the riders and the horses will be okay.
When I was in high school, my uncle, who went to the races quite a bit, got me interested. Then when I went to college at Southern Illinois University, just a few hours from Louisville, we used to go to the Kentucky Derby, and I got to see Secretariat and Riva Ridge win.
I can remember living in the housing projects and being broke like it was yesterday.
