$15,000 Weanling Takes Connections to First Kentucky Derby

Barber Road (Race Day) may be one of the longer shots on the board come the first Saturday in May, but there is one thing former Walmart CEO Bill Simon is sure of when it comes to his GI Kentucky Derby hopeful.

“I don't know what's going to happen, but I can promise that at the end of the race he's going to be running as hard as he can and he'll be moving forward,” Simon said.

Trained by John Ortiz, Barber Road has placed in each of the three major Kentucky Derby preps this year at Oaklawn Park, including a second-place effort in the GI Arkansas Derby.

Simon isn't quite sure yet what to make of the fact that his horse has qualified for the Kentucky Derby, but he said everything started to sink in when he saw pictures of Barber Road sporting his Kentucky Derby saddle cloth as he trained under the Twin Spires.

“I know a lot of people say that it's been their dream,” he said. “It honestly wasn't a dream for us because we never imagined that we could do it. I just wanted to be competitive at the top level in racing and my gosh, we got it.”

When Simon stepped down from his position at Walmart in 2014, he and his wife Tammy began searching for a hobby they could enjoy together. Their friend Hootie Moore got them involved in a racing partnership and they were instantly hooked. Simon was interested in the numbers of racing while his wife, who grew up on a farm in North Carolina, was drawn to the horses.

Five years ago, the couple started experimenting with how they wanted to get involved in the sport, first purchasing a few horses at the 2-year-old sales and then trying out the claiming game. Their WSS Racing had early success through their involvement with several stakes-winning partnerships including 2019 GIII Winning Colors S. victress Honey Bunny (Tapizar) and 2021 Challedon S. winner Mucho (Blame).

In 2019, they decided to start purchasing younger horses at the sales.

“There are all kinds of ways to participate and almost all of them drain your money faster than you can blink an eye,” Simon said with a laugh. “When we started buying young horses and raising them, [we found] it's a better way to make the economics work. It takes longer, but there are a lot of options.”

Barber Road on the main track at Churchill Downs | Coady

With the help of bloodstock agent Jared Hughes, the couple attends the annual weanling sales to find the first members of each year's racing crop. They refine the group the next year at the yearlings sales–purchasing a few more prospects and selling one or two that they think will help fund the rest of their purchases.

It was during their first year trying out this new business model that they landed on Barber Road.

Simon and Hughes had purchased a quality group of weanlings during the first week of the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. When Simon had to leave town with a few days still left in the auction, he told Hughes to have some fun and find a couple more colts.

“I took it as a challenge,” Hughes said. “When I saw Barber Road in the back ring, he had a lot of presence to him and he carried himself well. He had all the right angles and I was a fan of Race Day anyways.”

Hughes raised his hand one time and took the weanling home for $15,000.

Simon is quick to give all the credit to Hughes for finding the bargain-buy colt, who sold in the ninth session of the sale.

“Jared is an incredible horsemen,” he said. “It doesn't matter if it's weanlings or 2-year-olds, he's on the good horses. The question if I will pay that much. I think the world of his capability and judgement in horses, so we follow his recommendation. He's a person of incredible character.”

Barber Road was raised at Fallbrook Farm before being sent to Carlos Ortiz, the farther of John Ortiz, in Ocala. Simon remembers hearing positive reports from Ortiz early in the colt's training.

“Carlos first started talking about him as a yearling,” he recalled. “He was really talking about his stride; it was so long and elegant. You watch his replays now, he runs low and glides across the ground. He was a little undisciplined and didn't quite get it early on, so we sat back and watched him develop.”

Barber Road ran fourth in his debut for John Ortiz as a juvenile going five furlongs at Colonial Downs, but Hughes remembers still being impressed by the performance.

“When he galloped out big, I told John we were going to have a lot of fun with this horse,” he said. “At $15,000, the dream was just to have fun. We knew he wasn't a sprinter, but I'm a big believer that good horses will run well no matter the race.”

When the colt stretched out to a mile and a sixteenth two months later at Keeneland, he won by almost four lengths. He won again in his next start at Churchill Downs and capped off his juvenile season with a second-place finish in the Lively Shively S.

As a sophomore, the gray continued with his late-running style to finish in the money in each of his stakes performances at Oaklawn Park, running second in the GIII Southwest S., third in the GII Rebel S. and second in the GI Arkansas Derby, where he lost a shoe and was bumped in the stretch, but came running late to get the placing.

“I would think we're due,” Simon said. “He could have won any one of those. More importantly, he thinks he won every time because he gallops out ahead in every single race so he comes back all happy. Through all his works and races, he's never been tired. The morning after the Arkansas Derby he was at the front of his stall jumping up and down, playing with people, ready to go again.”

Simon explained that Barber Road is named after Tammy's grandfather Clarence Barber. After he passed away, the road their family lived on in North Carolina was named after him.

Simon noted that jockey Reylu Gutierrez will retain the mount for the Kentucky Derby start.

“We wanted a really young, up-and-coming guy who I think is going to be a Hall of Fame rider one day,” Simon said. “Could we get other riders on the horse? Yup, we probably could. Do we want them? Nope, we have the guy we want.”

He added that they were intentional with every relationship they have developed in racing.

Bill and Tammy with their 2021 Keeneland September purchase Madly Dancing | photo courtesy Bill Simon

“We really think that we're at a time in the industry's development that we have to get new blood and younger, talented people with integrity. We've been very particular about who we invest our money with because we want to help build their career. Hopefully some of the success we are having with a $15,000 horse will help John and Jared and Reylu.”

WSS Racing currently has a stable of 18 horses of racing age as well as seven yearlings. All of the horses owned exclusively by WSS Racing are sent to John Ortiz.

“He's a phenomenal, intuitive horseman and he rides the horses and handles them himself,” Simon explained. “He has taught me so much about horsemanship and I have a pretty extensive business background, so it's a great relationship.”

When purchasing racing prospects, Simon said that they focus on pedigrees with fillies and conformation with their colts. And of course, they rely on the advice of Hughes, who will be attending his first Kentucky Derby this year.

“I've always said that I would let a horse take me to the Derby so that it would be way more special and so that I could enjoy every moment,” Hughes said. “I want to show Barber Road off to my family and friends who aren't involved in racing. It's fun to have friends text you about how excited they are. I'm not nervous about it right now. I will be later, but for now I'm just enjoying each moment.”

He continued, “The most important part about this is that it's like a family. There's no agenda, it's just good people enjoying each other's company and that's what has made it so special. Bill and Tammy are incredibly humble people. They give us the credit and empower us to make decisions. They don't crucify us when something doesn't work out, they just ask what we need to do next to do it better. They're really humble, faithful Christian people who do things for the right reasons and it's the same for all of us, we all believe in that.”

No matter the results on Derby Day, Barber Road's many connections are sure there is more to come for their bargain purchase-turned-Classic contender.

“We actually think he's going to be better even longer, so maybe the Belmont,” Simon said. “It's been a wonderful blessing and we've been very fortunate.”