Frater Takes Three Horses to Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Frater Kenny Troutt (Beta-Chi, Southern Illinois Univ.) will have three horses in Saturday's 135th running of the Kentucky Derby. Troutt is co-owner of WinStar Farm, LLC along with Bill Casner. The two own horses that will start in the third, fourth and fifth post positions on Saturday. One of them, Hold Me Back in the fifth position, is among those considered with a shot at winning the Derby.
To be ridden by three-time Kentucky Derby winner Kent Desormeaux, Hold Me Back had Thursday morning-line odds of 15-1. Desormeaux, a member of the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, last year rode Big Brown to victory at Churchill Downs.
A pair of other WinStar horses had 30-1 morning-line odds on Thursday and will start from the third and fourth post positions. Mr. Hot Stuff, ridden by John Velazquez, will start in the No. 3 position, while Advice, ridden by Rene Douglas, will start at No. 4.
Hold Me Back, according to the official Kentucky Derby Web site, has graded earnings of $438,000 and has won three of five races. The horse finished second at the Blue Grass Stakes heading into this weekend's showdown at Louisville.
The favorite, I Want Revenge, was the Thursday favorite with 3-1 odds.
According to the WinStar Farm Web site, Troutt "has been a horseman for more than 20 years and an entrepreneur most of his life."
Biographical information on the Web site states that Troutt "established his first horse farm, Landview, in Eastern Nebraska in the early 1980s. In 1988 he founded Excel Communications, a long-distance telephone service company, which integrated the growing demand for telecommunications service with the unprecedented power of relationship marketing. As Founder and Chairman of Excel, his innovative business and marketing strategies resulted in the meteoric rise of the corporation and its subsequent success as a publicly traded enterprise in 1996."
The Web site further states that Troutt serves on the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association's Board of Trustees as well as the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors.
The company says Troutt lives in Dallas.
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