Spendthrift Farm

When B. Wayne Hughes purchased 850-acre Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2004, he tied his name to a farm with one of the richest histories in Thoroughbred racing.  Founded by Leslie Combs II in 1937, Spendthrift has been home to the only undefeated Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew, as well as Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Nashua, the outstanding sire Raise a Native, Dark Star, Jet Pilot, and Kentucky Derby winner Majestic Prince, who was bred by Combs, foaled at Spendthrift, and retired there to stud.

Currently, Spendthrift Farm is home to 60 broodmares and some 15 stallions, including Malibu Moon, who ranked fourth in North America in 2013 progeny earnings through mid-September, and new recruits Jimmy Creed and Liaison. Malibu Moon is the sire of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Orb.

Hughes, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, was born in Gotebo, Oklahoma. He was the founder of Public Storage, a company he began with a $50,000 investment in 1972. That very same year, Hughes, who had previously partnered with several neighbors to buy a horse, bought his first horse on his own.

Public Storage has grown to 1,400 storage sites serving 600,000 customers around the country. Hughes and his family retain 39 percent of the company, and he is ranked in the Forbes 400 as one of the country’s wealthiest people.

Obviously, his horse interests have grown as well. Trishyde gave him his first graded stakes victory when she captured the 1994 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap. Four years later, Joyeux Dancer gave him his first Grade 1 by taking the Early Times Turf Classic. Hughes has campaigned three Breeders’ Cup winners: Action This Day, victorious in the 2003 Juvenile; Court Vision, who upset Goldikova in the 2011 Mile; and Beholder, whose victory in last year’s Juvenile Fillies helped her win the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old filly.

Hughes, who splits his time between Malibu, California, and Spendthrift, has numerous horses in training with five different conditioners: Richard Mandella and Carla Gaines in Southern California; and Albert Stall Jr., Paul McGee, and Dale Romans in Kentucky. 

Nearly a decade after becoming the owner of Spendthrift, Hughes said, “There’s so much history here. To be part of this was the opportunity of a lifetime.”