Southern Equine Stable LLC

Owner: Mike Moreno

Born: July 25, 1968

Residence: Houston, Texas

Family: wife, Tiffany; daughter, Gabrielle 

Moreno got involved with racing when he was paid for a business deal with three 2-year-old Thoroughbreds, which he sent to an acquaintance, Eric Guillot, to train. All three won. His fourth horse was Show Me the Stage, a winner of 13 stakes and earner of $679,059.

Prior to the 2012 Kentucky Derby, Moreno and is wife bought a share of Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister, who went on to finish second in both the Derby and Preakness Stakes.

He and Guillot have charted a course to breed their own stakes class horses. They have a training farm in Louisiana and bought a large farm near Lexington Ky., where the mares and foals reside. Among the blue-chip broodmares they have acquired are Better Than Honour, a world record $14 million purchase; Irish Cherry for $2.7 million; and Careless Jewel for $1.95 million. They’ve also added their top racemares, including Grade 1 winner Champagne d’Oro, to the broodmare band.

Moreno, who holds an M.B.A., owns Dynamic Industries Inc., an offshore service company specializing in interconnecting piping fabrication, associated pipe installation-commissioning and offshore maintenance services.

In 2014, Southern Equine secured a signature win when homebred Moreno won the $1.5-million Whitney Stakes.