David Novak 0:04 

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Well, this Saturday, we all get to experience the most exciting two minutes in sports. That's right. It's time for the Kentucky Derby right here in my hometown of Louisville. And that gives me the perfect opportunity to sit down with my good friend, Bill Farish. Bill is a giant in the world of horse racing. He's the founder of Woodford racing and the general manager of lanes in farm, which I got to tell you is one of the world's premier thoroughbred breeding farms and an absolutely magnificent place to see. Now this conversation is going to give you a rare close up look into the world of horse racing. But it's also going to give you a close up look at a really special leader. See for all his success and world class reputation. Bill's an incredibly humble guy with the quiet spirit. Have a leader who just knows how to treat people and knows his business. He loves his work. He loves his horses. He calls them his athletes. He loves to see the people he hires succeed. And he's trying to leave his industry better than he found it. It's the kind of quiet outstanding leadership that we don't always see elevated or showcased. But that can teach us so much about what it really looks like to lead well. Plus, he gives us his pick for the horse. He's backing this weekend. And you do not want to miss that. So here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours, Bill Farish.

David Novak 1:59 

days, we're going to have the 2023 Kentucky Derby what's a Kentucky Derby story you just love to tell?

Bill Farish 2:06 

Well, probably my favorite all time Derby story was when or when it which was owned by the FIPS family, his friends of both of ours. And the derby is one of those events that is bigger than you could possibly explain to somebody that's not in the industry. Everybody knows the derby like they know the Indy 500, or any other big event like that. But to actually be part of it and have a horse win is just overwhelming. And I think that probably is my favorite Derby moment. But there have been quite a few over the years.

David Novak 2:39 

Take me back to 1999 and describe what it was like seeing your horse charismatic, pull ahead in the final stretch. And when

Bill Farish 2:47 

Yeah, that was a special year for sure. Turns out the farm bred the winners of the first two triple crown races and charismatic and the third triple crown race and lemon drop kid so I think we're the first to ever have different horses comprise the entire triple crown. But the derby again, you know, the first leg of it was an incredible feeling. And we had some great friends and partners guy named Ben Rhodes who co bred charismatic and it was just a great thrill to share that with him.

David Novak 3:21 

You know, people make their bets and kind of strange ways and I've been to over 20 derbies myself living in Louisville and yum brands sponsored the Kentucky Derby for a long time and and you know, I remember early in the morning telling everybody I was going to bet on charismatic I was gonna bet on that horse because I always loved that name. I always wanted our brands to be charismatic, you know arouse popular loyalty and enthusiasm. That's the definition you know, so I'm definitely going to the derby. I'm going to bet on charismatic, but by the time you have a few drinks and listen to everybody else's, I forgot to bet on charismatic and damn did that horse didn't win.

Bill Farish 3:59 

Yeah, that's usually the way it happens to me too. I get caught up in whatever's going on the day and forget to bet but I did bet on or that was one of the biggest tickets I ever cash. But by the time the race came around, I It's lucky I bet early in the day because I would have missed the opportunity later.

David Novak 4:16 

I told you how much I love charismatic as a name, what goes into a horse getting its name.

Bill Farish 4:21 

It's quite a process. Actually, the Jockey Club has a database of names and previously used names. And you're not allowed to reuse a name until the horse has passed away for over 10 years. So there's quite a huge number of names taken. And it's hard to come up with a new one for every horse that you have to name but it's up to the individual owner to name the horse. But they have to clear it to the Jockey Club. And there's certainly some names like secretariat that can never be used again. Even though the name hasn't been used recently. That doesn't mean you could still get

David Novak 4:56 

it. You're the founder of Woodford racing, which he started in 2000 and Five. Tell us about it.

Bill Farish 5:01 

Well, we started with for racing really to give people that aren't in the industry a chance to experience horse ownership on a smaller basis, you know, a smaller entry point where they could see the costs of participation, but not bear the full brunt of it. And I had no idea when I started it, that it would go this long and we'd have this much fun. But we've got a great group of people and quite a few of which come back every year, really been gratifying,

David Novak 5:31 

a mutual friend of ours as teamed up with you, Ken Langone, and he said, you know, he had a blast talking to you and learning about the business. And he said after he learned about it, and just your knowledge of the business, he said, I had to go in I had to be I had to get after this, you know, so your depth of knowledge is definitely paid off. In that case, and I'm sure it's fun doing business with Ken? Well, if

Bill Farish 5:55 

you can impress Ken Langone with knowledge, you've really done something. But we had a great conversation, I had no idea that he was going to respond that way. But it just so happens that over the weekend, a horse that we owned together, won the prep for the Preakness, called the Frederico Tesio steaks at Laurel, and now might be headed to the Preakness. And I just knew with Ken, you know, he has the Midas touch, and if he were involved in one, it would probably end up being a good one. So we're very excited about this horse His name is perform

David Novak 6:30 

that's perfect for Ken Langone. That's what he demands from all of his businesses.

Bill Farish 6:34 

Exactly.

David Novak 6:35 

I know this is complicated, but walk me through the economics of owning a horse.

Bill Farish 6:39 

You know, there's obviously the purchase price. And that's a the biggest cost you have generally in at least in the horses that we look at, you've got the purchase price, and then you've Of course, got the training fees, and veterinary fees and all that. So the trainers we use and the horses we have, it's generally about 40 to 50,000 a year per horse to keep them in training. So it's not insignificant. That's where I think the partnership model has a lot of merit. If someone

David Novak 7:09 

wanted a horse that had a shot at winning the Derby, how would you recommend them going about doing it?

Bill Farish 7:15 

Well, there's lots of ways it all depends on the individual and their appetite for risk. But you can certainly do it on your own, which a lot of people do, hopefully find a good advisor to help you pick out the horse. And the odds are long, but it's so exciting if it works out and you could go the individual route, or you can go a partnership route.

David Novak 7:36 

What qualities do you look for in a horse?

Bill Farish 7:39 

Well, we look at pedigree, oftentimes, you can tell by just looking at a horse's pedigree and who the sire is who the mayor is, what sort of potential they would have to go a distance like the derby. If you're specifically looking for a derby horse, you can tell if they're bred to be sprinters or routers, we call them to turn horses. And so that's the first thing than actually looking at the individual and checking out this confirmation. And all of that is really the biggest part, then, of course, they have to get past the vet. And that's another thing all together whether the horse has good wind and all his X rays and everything are clean.

David Novak 8:19 

I've been told that if you want to get the horse business, you need to show up with the money that you're prepared to lose. Is there any merit to that?

Bill Farish 8:28 

Now there's definitely merit to that I think it's over stated because there's like anything there's there's intelligent ways to go about it. And there's, you know, if you buy a, you know, four or five colts on your own and take it on that way. Yeah, there's nothing but downside if you don't get a really good horse because a colt that can't run really doesn't have much value. But a Philly they can't run if she's well bred certainly has value as a broodmare. You know,

David Novak 8:56 

you bring multiple owners together and buy a horse? And how do you get everyone aligned around the decisions that make for smart business, if you will,

Bill Farish 9:05 

we think we know those answers ourselves, but we try to involve that anybody who wants to be involved in those decisions. One of the things I really set out to do in the beginning to communicate better than other partnerships, I, I really felt like if you're putting up your money, you need to get as much information as we can possibly provide. And really feel like you're the owner of the horse, not just a owner of the horse. My partner Ben hagun. And I got together and he's really in charge of, of keeping everybody well informed. And I think that makes a huge difference in their overall experience and the likelihood that they'll come back

David Novak 9:44 

flightline is you know, a huge winner for you. Tell us about him and where he's at in the lifecycle and how you think about what's next.

Bill Farish 9:53 

It's hard to put into words what flightline His talent is, you know, he was being compared constantly to soccer chariot, he really was just an incredible, incredible athlete. And unfortunately, most of the casual fans of racing really didn't know much about him because he didn't go through the Triple Crown trail. He had a few injuries in his earlier days that kept him from the races. So he didn't hit the radar screen for a lot of people. But he retired undefeated, six wins out of six races, and no one ever got within six links of him, just an amazing horse. And when he got to the Breeders Cup classic, and won that by eight links, it really cemented his place in history.

David Novak 10:42 

We'll be back with the rest of my conversation with Bill Farish in just a moment. And as you heard his talk about one of Bill's horse ownership partners is Ken Langone, the co founder of Home Depot, and one of my closest friends. Now, of course, you couldn't imagine a better name than this, the horse that can get involved in is named perform, because, boy, that's just what gins businesses have always done. And hey, if you want to go deeper into what makes Ken tech, you'll love his episode on how leaders lead, he talks about the importance of always being there for people,

Ken Langone 11:21 

when we all recognize we need each other. And we can do more for each other by needing each other and doing things for each other. When we recognize all of that, David, that's what it's all about. Unless we're so arrogant, that we don't believe we can learn from anybody else. If you leave your eyes and your mind open to watching other people, you'd be amazed at how much better a person you will be by emulating that maybe everything but some of the things they do.

David Novak 11:47 

Go back and listen to my entire conversation with Ken episode 91 here on how leaders sleep.

Unknown Speaker 12:00 

Give us a story from

David Novak 12:01 

your childhood that shaped the kind of leader that you are today.

Bill Farish 12:04 

I think you know what you're my father for many years, obviously growing up and seeing how he ran his business and his life was really the thing that created my style, I guess as much as anything. He was the kind of guy who, who hired good people and let them do their job and certainly stayed on top of things. And I think that's really what I do as well. I think having a good team and letting them succeed and letting them feel the success of their of what they're doing really fuels how they perform.

David Novak 12:39 

Your father founded lanes in which is the business that you run now, was it always the plan for you to go into the family business? Were you always gonna get in the horse business?

Bill Farish 12:49 

No, I can't say that. My father really even encouraged me that much. I got out of college and went down to Texas and work for a few years and then went to Washington DC for a year and, or to actually and then I knew that I wanted to be in the horse business and I kind of had to force my way back in.

David Novak 13:07 

What was it that made you know, this is what you wanted to do. From an early

Bill Farish 13:10 

age. I fell in love that dad had racehorses when we were growing up in in Texas. But it wasn't until I visited Kentucky that I really fell in love with the breeding side of it and and I mean racing as well that they're both so much fun, very different but so much fun. And we visited a farm in Louisville, actually one or Jones's farm. And that was it. I don't know if you've ever been there but hermitage is a beautiful place and the barns are all lined up and really it's set up in a very unique way. And you know, growing up in Houston, I thought Louisville was the center of the horse industry. Not Lexington and when when mom and dad came up here and we're looking at farms in the late 70s They were looking around Lexington I was like why do you want to be in Lexington that's not where the horse and sure enough it is centered more here.

David Novak 14:02 

What makes Kentucky such a great place to breed and race thoroughbreds.

Bill Farish 14:06 

It obviously centered early on because of the limestone in the soil. The the water we have here, which also seems to work well with bourbon. The major centers around the world have limestone in the soil and excessive amount of limestone and whether it's here or Calif Florida or in France or in England and new market, there's their areas that have that element to the soil. So I think that's how it started. But then once you get the key stallions, the mayor's go to where the stallions are and Kentucky certainly has critical mass when it comes to the top stallions in the world.

David Novak 14:43 

Absolutely. Give us a snapshot of lanes in and the business model that you have. You basically provide services end to end isn't that right?

Bill Farish 14:51 

We do. We're a full service farm. We have 21 stallions that stand here. We have over 300 brood mares on the farm the marriage obviously go to the stallions, not just our stallions, they go to stallions all over Central Kentucky. And then we raise the foals. Generally most of our clients are commercial breeders so they take their yearlings to the sales. And as do we take most of our horses to the sales, which happen in September of their yearling year, we race, but we also prepare horses for the sales. And obviously the stallion side is a big part of it. So those are the key areas, stallion side, the brood mare breeding side and of course, the sales.

David Novak 15:34 

Is the tour business very big for you, or is that just something you have around the derby time?

Bill Farish 15:39 

No, it's year round. But my oldest daughter and he does all our tours and it's growing. It's kind of very similar to the to the bourbon tour. It's really taken off. I think every year it gets bigger and bigger. And it wasn't that long ago that none of us even opened our doors to outside tourists. But it's really, it's been a great thing. Our guests

David Novak 16:01 

we had for the Kentucky Derby, you guys always did a great job at lanes ends, we would bring them and we'd see the whole stud process. It was just a phenomenal event. And it's something that people still talk about. Every time I get together with them. They just love the whole experience. But everybody's so stunned at how the accommodations for your horses. They're nicer than you know, a five star Four Seasons Hotel.

Bill Farish 16:27 

Well, they are pretty nice. But it's funny how often I run into people that came to lanes in because of you. And it happens in the most random places. But they say yeah, I was in town with yum brands with David Novak. And we came to lanes and always surprised.

David Novak 16:45 

Well, it was a place to go. Let me tell you tell us about your key staff in the roles that they play. Man, how are you structured in your business?

Bill Farish 16:53 

Yeah, we have, you know, obviously a farm manager that I'm in daily contact with is a crucial part of the whole thing. But then we also have a yearly manager or broodmare manager, and a stallion manager, we really have a, some very, very key people there. And then under them, assistant managers that all of which, you know, are vital to the success of our business, we're in the middle of falling season now. And it's round the clock, you know, we had three falls last night and three falls the night before born throughout the night, and it's a very tough time on the staff because they they're putting in around the clock time that you know, so important because it's not a always an open and shut case, when America goes to falling.

David Novak 17:41 

You don't you don't just say hey, it's gonna happen 389 I kind of gotta be on call there. You know, you mentioned your leadership style a little bit earlier. And in some organization, the leader has an oar in the water and another's, they're more hands off. Describe your leadership style bill.

Bill Farish 17:59 

I think it really is, as I said before, I try to hire great people. And you know, our industry is pretty small. We try to encourage young people to move on from us to other farms where they can move up the ladder and in terms of, of their role. And because we have a relatively small number of managerial type positions, it's important that they do move on. And I think we've had a lot of success over the years, training people to move up in the business. And that success encourages young people to come to us, I think

David Novak 18:34 

that's a very enlightened view. Because you know, a lot of times people want to protect everybody and not get them to leave and focus on the continuity. But that's a real selling point for you to get top talent.

Bill Farish 18:45 

It really is in but I'm not telling you. It's always easy to let somebody go. We've had some great people, but they're now running other operations, which is just fun to see. And it keeps it you know, it's connections in the other operations that help us do things collaboratively.

David Novak 19:02 

Now, you're one of the best in the world at maximizing the horses after racing career, and every year you released the advertised stud fees for your stallion roster. Walk us through the process for how that list comes about and how the rates get established.

Bill Farish 19:18 

It's like anything else it's supply and demand. And a lot of times it's based on how well they were received the year before but not only that, it's how well their offspring have done in the previous year. So if it's first year horse like flightline it's all based on on the hype and how successful a horse like him was as racehorse you know, he's starting at a higher set fee than any horse we've ever stood 200,000 Which for an unproven stallion is a very high number, but we've got a full book to him and we don't feel like we overshot with that stuffy, you know, other horses, we have them all the way down to 10,000. So it just depends on what the demand is out there for the horse and, and how their offspring are doing.

David Novak 20:04 

So flightline is fully booked. So what does that mean?

Bill Farish 20:08 

In a lot of cases? It's a farm policy what a full book is because when Secretary retired 50 mares was a large book for a stallion, now it's 250 mares. So it's really changed a lot and to a fault, I think I think some farms breed too many mares, but we try to keep them at around 150 mares, we go a little more than that sometimes a little less than that a lot of times when, when the demands not there, but really we look at 150 to 160 as being a very full book.

David Novak 20:41 

How long does a horse like that stand for stud?

Bill Farish 20:44 

They can stand sometimes till they're 25 or even beyond, it just depends on the horse and how long their libido stays up, and how long their fertility stays intact.

David Novak 20:54 

You know, what's the revenue you would anticipate for a flight line? And how does that compare in relationship to what the initial investment would be?

Bill Farish 21:03 

Well, and the initial investment in his case would be back when when we bought into him as a yearling. And he was a million dollar yearling, which is a pretty high price for a yearling Colt. His revenue, if you were to extrapolate out from 200,000, he'll go to 150 mayors, about 120 of those will actually have live foals. And those are the only ones that actually pay this stud fee. So it's 120 times 200,000, it's uh, it's gonna have a pretty good year.

David Novak 21:34 

That's good. That's a good year, I would say so, you know, you know, when you look at competition, they'll How do you look at it? You know, broadly speaking, you know, how do you look at your competitors?

Bill Farish 21:43 

Well, our competitors run the gamut, really, we're really competitive mainly in the in the stallion market, the yearling sales, the mayor sales, and the racing are all kind of separate. I look at our stallion business as being the most competitive. And there's some big, big competitors out there. And we're all going after the elite colts that are racing in a given year. So it's quite competitive. And there are those that go out and buy an entire horse themselves. And then their farms like like ours, where we syndicate the stallions when we buy them, and we bring in other investors to take on the risk with us and also share the breeding success with us. So it's very competitive, but it's a fun business. And, and it's very exciting when you get a horse like flightline will be in in three years when his first babies are starting to run. That's where you know, where you really find out if he's gonna be a great stallion or not.

David Novak 22:49 

One thing bill talks about in this episode is how important is to develop the people you lead, and that it's a leaders job to prepare people to move up, even if that means they leave the organization to take on a new role. Developing your people is absolutely critical to your success as an organization. And something I'm passionate about it how leaders lead. It's why I released my most recent leadership development course called taking people with you. It's a step by step process for how to align a team around a goal and get big things done together. It's completely free. And I know once you implement what you learn, you'll develop a healthier work culture, and your team will see the growth and success you're capable of not only that, your people will feel valued, because you've shown them that you truly care about seeing them grow. You can get access to this course for free at how leaders lead.com.

Unknown Speaker 23:53 

I know you're

David Novak 23:54 

extremely close with your father, and he was the ambassador, I believe for the states in the UK. And went off to do that. And I'm sure you were running the show when he was gone. What was that like? And how did you navigate it? When he came back? I mean, you know, he's got a full time as ambassador, you've been running those Joe as a leader. How did you navigate that time?

Bill Farish 24:15 

It was a little tricky, to be honest. It was it was kind of good in a way that he stepped away for a little while. And that Job was so all encompassing that he really didn't have the ability to be his normal, controlling self. So it was good that for us to have that time apart, so to speak. But when he came back, they shifted into being Floridians a little more of the time than they were before. The transition was pretty smooth,

David Novak 24:44 

gave you the space that you need to basically Yes, exactly. You've been in this business as a family and as a person, you know, for decades now. How do you stay relevant for the years to come? And how do you motivate yourself as a leader to take the business to the next level?

Bill Farish 24:59 

Well, the exciting thing for me now, David is my kids are starting to get involved. And that that really gives it a whole different perspective, our oldest daughter is back during tours and hospitality for us and my oldest son Will is, is getting into the business and is actually down in Florida right now scouting two year old Marquette, it makes it so much more fun timings pretty good, actually. Because you get to a certain age and you want to play a little more golf and maybe, you know, concentrate on the areas that are more enjoyable, personally. So they give you the opportunity to do that. And, you know, a farm like this, it's a family farm, if they don't come along, you know, it no longer is a family farm. And if they go off and do other things, and, you know, we certainly don't pressure them to come back. But but we secretly hope they will.

David Novak 25:52 

You know, we talked about flightline and secretary had these great successes you had, but I know no one bats 1000. I mean, you know, what would you consider to be one of your biggest flops or failures? I hate the word failure. But and what did you learn from it?

Bill Farish 26:07 

Well, I think in this business, you have them every day, because if you win at 20%, you're going into the Hall of Fame. So it's a game that you lose way more than you win. Not only does it keep you humble, but it definitely I know you don't like the word failure, but there's too many failures. To mention, I mean, there really are. And I think when you look at it on a horse by horse basis, it can be pretty discouraging, because, you know, that's where the, again, the partnership model comes into play for people, because if it doesn't work out, you've quantified your downside. You're willing to put up X amount and and if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But if it does, you get to see how you know what the odds really are. They're formidable, even when you have all the advantages of, you know, people that are trying to help out.

David Novak 27:00 

The lake Queen Elizabeth had this passion for horse racing and traveled to Kentucky on multiple occasions. And I understand that every time she came, she stayed at your farm. What's one of your favorite memories with the queen?

Bill Farish 27:12 

I think one of the one of my favorite memories was Prince Philip was here also, this was one of their later visits. So we certainly were, we're very familiar with them. But we were having a barbecue out in back a mom and dad's house, and I came inside to get something and Prince Philip was sitting on the floor with our youngest child at the time, literally just playing with the child. And I can't remember which one it was embarrassed to save it. But I thought it was just so real and so natural that, you know, he was he was just having fun doing something as simple as that. Well, the Queen

David Novak 27:49 

was very knowledgeable about your business, as I understand it, you know, what was she like, as a business woman? And did you have any business interactions with her? What was she like when she was really in the work mode?

Bill Farish 28:00 

Yes, she was very, very serious about the horse business. And really, it was almost a little bit intimidating. Because when you sat down with her, she was gonna grill you for for a lot of information, and you better have an answer. So, so it was it was fascinating. I mean, she really, really was serious about it. I think she read the racing post every day over there over in England. And she recognized many years ago that at that time, the better stallions were over here. And she sent mares over here to breed to those giants. And subsequently, they're now the sort of balance of power, at least for turf racing is shifted back to Europe. She recognized back then that that it was in our best interest to breed some mares over here.

David Novak 28:46 

Phil, this has been so much fun. And I want to have some more with my lightning round of questions. So are you up for this?

Bill Farish 28:51 

I'll give it my best shot.

David Novak 28:53 

Okay, what's one word you'd use to describe a thoroughbred?

Bill Farish 28:57 

Beautiful?

David Novak 28:58 

What's the thing you love most about horse racing?

Bill Farish 29:01 

Just being with the horses.

David Novak 29:03 

If you could be one person for a day besides yourself, who would it be and why?

Bill Farish 29:07 

Well, the President of the United States would be a fun thing to to be for a day doesn't really have much comparison in our business. But I did get to work in Washington for a few years and see the person sitting in that chair and it was pretty phenomenal and looks like a lot of fun.

David Novak 29:23 

I'm going to come back to that before we close. What's your biggest pet peeve? I

Bill Farish 29:26 

mean, people,

David Novak 29:28 

what's the number of Kentucky derbies you've been to?

Bill Farish 29:31 

Unknown but I would I would say about 35

David Novak 29:36 

Year 2023 Derby pick and listen to this one. Forte. Okay. What's one of your daily rituals, something you'd never miss

Bill Farish 29:46 

daily drive around the farm. That's one thing. Right now I daily drive to school in the morning with our youngest child. That's not every day.

David Novak 29:58 

If I were to turn on the radio So in your car, what would I hear country music? You know, that's the end of the lightning round. But curiously, early in your career, you just mentioned it, I understand you served as the personal aide to President George HW Bush, what did you learn about leadership from 41?

Bill Farish 30:15 

So many things. He was one of those, those guys that never raised his voice, you know, just the just the quiet confidence of somebody that had, you know, been in so many tough situations and handled them with with grace and with humility, just an amazing person.

David Novak 30:37 

What's the biggest challenge facing the industry today? And how are you trying to address it?

Bill Farish 30:43 

Well, I think one of the biggest challenges we face is a lot of the animal rights organizations that don't see the day to day care and attention that our horses get, they only see animals being handled, and, you know, they're against any kind of manipulation of, of animals. And so I think that's one of the biggest things we face is is trying to convince them and and others that we take care of our athletes after they're retired, which is a huge thing, and also that we're constantly trying to improve the safety of the sport, and the safety for the horses.

David Novak 31:22 

You know, that's obvious to anybody who's really around around the industry, and the industry has had a little bit of a, you know, been tarnished a little bit with the whole drug enhancement issues, performance enhancements, you know, where do you think you stand with that today?

Bill Farish 31:39 

Well, it's a very timely question, because we've achieved something that I never thought we'd be able to achieve, which was pass national legislation, to regulate the horse industry on a national basis instead of a state by state basis. And that's been the problem in the past that we've we've done things differently in every state. Now, we have a national standard that's much higher and, and really has already shown tremendous success in raising the safety level for the athletes. And so the all the testing will now be done nationally with national standards, and with testing and really investigative approach to regulation so that, you know, it's very hard to catch cheaters that are using drugs because the, the drugs are constantly changing, and they're, they're staying ahead of the regulation. But if you do it in on an investigative basis, and you follow the the trail, that's really where we've had the most success in catching people,

David Novak 32:43 

as a leader in the industry, which I know you definitely are, what did you do to get this national regulation? I mean, versus the local lad had to take a lot a lot of hard work.

Bill Farish 32:54 

Well, we had a tremendous effort that went into it. And when it came down to it, as you know, sometimes it it takes a little luck and having the right person in the right place. And Senator McConnell being a Kentucky and and understanding our issues, really played a vital role and getting it over the line.

David Novak 33:14 

When you look forward. What do you see as your unfinished business?

Bill Farish 33:17 

I think it's a constantly evolving thing. And you just want to leave the industry in a better place than then you found it in and that's that's really the, the driving force for me, I think the Breeders Cup just continues to get better and better. The derby keeps getting bigger and bigger, unlike a lot of sports are big days are very, very popular. We're not having trouble putting fans in the stands, so to speak, the Breeders Cup is sold out every year, the derby is sold out every year, Royal ASKET is sold out every year. So we're doing some things right, but we can't stop we've got a lot of lot of things to, to work against and to try to make the sport better.

David Novak 33:59 

How much change is there in this sport? I mean, if you're gonna just say how much change have you had in the last five years, for example,

Bill Farish 34:06 

we've almost cut the breakdown rate in half, which is something I never thought we'd see. I really thought that you know, it's a small percentage of horses that get hurt, but it's a percentage and I never thought we'd really make meaningful inroads in that area. And we really have we've we've cut it in half with safer racing surfaces and, and really better policing of the athletes. We have video monitoring at at some tracks at you know, almost every moment of horses out of the stall. So it's really made a big difference and will continue to get better.

David Novak 34:41 

I love how you call them athletes because there's I don't think there's a more majestic athlete than a thoroughbred I mean, that's truly what they are right?

Bill Farish 34:49 

Oh, it is to watch him train in the morning and they are highly skilled athletes for sure. And it's that's one of the fun things you know, in any sport to be able to watch athletes perform, and we're awfully lucky to be able to do it on a daily basis.

David Novak 35:05 

Well, I'm gonna get to do it at the dawn and the downs, I always go there and down there at the family at Churchill Downs. And I want to thank you so much bill for taking the time for this podcast. And I have one last question I want to ask you, what's one piece of advice you'd give to anyone who wants to be a better leader?

Bill Farish 35:22 

You know, getting the right people in the right positions, is so important and giving them the ability to grow in that position. And you know, when necessary, move on to another organization that where they can move up,

David Novak 35:35 

it was very tough for you to get that national standard for thoroughbreds. And let me tell you something, it was very tough to get Bill to do this podcast, I think it was because Bill, and I say this with the highest amount of respect for you, you know, you're extremely accomplished and very humble. And I want to thank you so much for taking the time to be on this podcast. And you know, I think he's very interested and is very timely, and you were terrific. So I appreciate it.

Bill Farish 36:02 

Well, thanks so much, David, thanks for making me do it.

David Novak 36:15 

You know, sometimes stereotypical great leadership looks like taking the spotlight and commanding a room. But I gotta tell you, just as often, great leadership looks like driving around your horse farm as the sun comes up. There's a quiet strength in a melody in the way Bill leads. And I just love that about him. I also love how bill talks about trying to improve his industry. So it's better than he found it, because that's exactly what he's doing. Bill has poured himself into the world of horse racing, making it safer and better and ultimately more successful and popular. Now, that's a big takeaway for every leader, regardless of what industry you're in. It's so important to make strong relationships in your field, to develop and pour into the talent around you, and to find ways to solve issues that could tarnish your industry as a whole and make your industry better in everything that it does. So this week, I want you to think about someone you've seen impact your industry for the better. Consider what they've done specifically, see what lessons you might be able to apply. And hey, while you're at it, why not shoot them a quick email, just to make sure they know how much you appreciate what they've done. So do you want to know how leaders lead? What we learned today is that great leaders grow, love and invest in their industry. Coming up next on how leaders lead is Barney Hill, the co founder of a brand marketing company called Icon blue, who has three decades of experience serving on fortune 500 boards, including my company, yum, brands,

Bonnie Hill 37:59 

I have a term, David, that I share with all of those I coach. And it is always leave people whole. So it means that you can disagree with people you can have differences of opinion. But you want to make certain that when you leave the conversation, the person doesn't feel diminished in any way that they feel that they've been treated with respect, and that you have respectfully disagreed with them. And then you work on trying to come together in some way where you can work together.

David Novak 38:32 

So be sure to come back again next week to hear our entire conversation. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday, you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader you can be