A Kentucky Derby favorite from Bowling Green? The story of Epicenter’s birthplace

BOWLING GREEN — Drive a few miles off the main strip here and you’ll run into the birthplace of Epicenter, the likely favorite for this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Bettersworth Westwind Farm has no front gate, no picturesque rolling hills, no white fences. The breeding barn was built in 1955 for $10,000 and is non-descript from the outside, save for “WESTWIND” painted in green.

Pull up the driveway, and you’ll be greeted by Roxy, a 14-year-old black Lab who’s hard of hearing and going blind.

No one will mistake this for famous Kentucky farms such as Three Chimneys in Versailles or Claiborne in Paris, but there is something special here in a town much better known for Corvettes and Hilltoppers than thoroughbreds.

Watch and learn: Experts give advice on top horses, what horses to avoid for 2022 Kentucky Derby

“God graced us with the best land you can have,” said Brent Harris, who runs the farm with his brothers, Mike and Kevin. “We’ve had clients that had horses in Lexington that they just had to feed and feed and couldn’t get them fat. We have a field over there that looks like it’s full of weeds, but it’s just really good ground.”

It's the ground where Epicenter spent the first year and a half of his life. Born Jan. 29, 2019, Epicenter has gone on to win four of his six career races, including a score in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby that has made him one of the top contenders for the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

There’s no record of how many horses born in Bowling Green have competed in the Kentucky Derby. Certainly, there’s never been a Derby winner born here. As far as the Harris family knows, Bettersworth Westwind is the only horse farm in Warren County. The last Kentucky Derby winner to be born in the western part of the state was Spend a Buck in 1985. He was bred at Irish Hill Farm near Owensboro.

Ron Winchell, who purchased Epicenter for $260,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, lives in Las Vegas but understands the uniqueness of the horse’s story. Winchell is co-owner of Kentucky Downs in nearby Franklin, and of the recently opened Mint Gaming Hall in Bowling Green, just a few miles from the Harris’ farm.

“It didn’t dawn on me at the time we bought it that, ‘This one’s from Bowling Green,’” Winchell said. “You just don’t think about that. But I think it’s just a great story line. I love that he’s from Bowling Green. It’s fun. … Hopefully they throw a nice party there, and hopefully we can win the Derby.”

A business that nearly ended

The “Bettersworth” part of the farm’s name comes from the Harris’ grandfather, J.R. Bettersworth.

He ran several businesses — cars, refrigerators, ice, a restaurant — and eventually became interested in saddlebreds.

He ultimately turned his attention to thoroughbreds and enjoyed his best success in breeding My Juliet, a champion sprinter who won 24 of 36 career starts from 1974-77 and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2019. He also bred Helio Rise, who finished 14th in the 1971 Kentucky Derby.

His son, Jay, was in line to take over the business but was killed in 1979 after a filly got loose and kicked him in the head.

2022 Kentucky Derby: Everything you need to know about this year's race

That’s when the Harris boys took on a larger role. All three worked on hay crews at the farm as teenagers while attending Warren Central High School.

“We’ve had a few employees along the way,” Mike said, “but mainly it’s been family.”

Mike, now 65, is now the farm manager. Brent, 63, and Kevin, 59, look after the horses. Brent was an outfielder on the 1980 Western Kentucky University baseball team that’s generally regarded as the best in school history, winning 47 games before falling to Florida State one round shy of the College World Series.

The farm includes about 1,000 acres, with 725 of them leased out for farming corn, wheat and beans. The rest is for the horses, which currently includes 30 mares and 16 yearlings.

Star watching: Kentucky Derby week brings stars to Louisville: Janet Jackson, Kevin Gates and former Cards

Before taking Epicenter to the 2020 Keeneland sale, Mike Harris said the family was looking into selling the farm.

“At the time, the market had been off a few years and we had some bad luck with X-rays (for yearlings they were trying to sell),” he said. “We were going to be out of it.”

'We all knew he was special'

When Epicenter was born in 2019, Mike Harris wasn’t immediately impressed but knew to give him time. Epicenter is a son of Not This Time, out of the Candy Ride mare Silent Candy.

“All of Silent Candy’s foals, they’re kind of late-developing,” Mike Harris said. “She’s not a real big mare, and she doesn’t have big, giant foals. They’re medium-sized. But all of them, by about May or June, they start filling out. None of them have been big horses, but they’re so balanced.”

As Epicenter began to develop, the Harris brothers began to dream.

“We all knew he was special,” Mike Harris said. “Just watching him run and walk, just how fluid everything was. He was just really well-balanced. Knock on wood, I hope he stays sound. He’s real efficient in his stride. It’s easy to look back now and say that, but we knew back then he was going to bring some money.”

Tyler Harris, Mike’s son, was in charge of showing Epicenter at the Keeneland sales ring.

More on the horses: With just one eye, Un Ojo became trainer Ricky Courville's first Kentucky Derby horse

David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, figured the horse would sell between $75,000 and $150,000.

“It just kept going up in tiny increments,” Fiske said. “We liked him enough to keep at it. He went for more than what we thought he would, but we would have given more for him, probably. We really wanted him.”

When the gavel finally hit for $260,000, Mike and Tyler Harris were both crying. Bettersworth Westwind Farm could stay in the horse business.

“We had pretty much thought, ‘Well, now we’re farmers,’” Brent Harris said. “Then Epicenter brings that and we’re horse people again.”

'A little luck every now and then'

It’s a beautiful spring day in late April, and the Harris brothers are making plans to attend the Kentucky Derby and watch Epicenter. A local family has allowed them to use their box at Churchill Downs on Derby Day.

As they sit in the barn built nearly 70 years ago, the contrasts are striking. Each stall has a built-in camera that allows Mike Harris to monitor his mares from his home up the road. They’re also filled with cobwebs and what Harris calls “good bacteria.”

He’s asked how a relatively obscure farm might end up being the birthplace of a horse to win the world’s most famous race. He points to the ground.

“We have some of the prettiest Pembroke soil,” he said. “It’s just a gorgeous color — dark brown color. And below that’s red clay. That holds the nutrients. It’s just rich soil. But we don’t do anything any better than any of those guys up there (in Lexington) do.”

If Epicenter wins the Kentucky Derby, it won’t mean any more money for the Harris brothers. If there’s any benefit, it could boost the value of the mare, Silent Candy. Mike Harris indicated she could be sold down the road. He’s currently waiting to see if a recent breeding session with Not This Time has produced another foal, who would be a full-brother to Epicenter.

Mike Harris says he won’t bet on Epicenter because he doesn’t want to jinx it, but then added he “wouldn’t trade with anybody.”

Did he ever dream he’d breed a horse to make the Kentucky Derby?

More horse racing: Here's your daily guide for racing at Churchill Downs

“It’s more than you dream about,” he said. “You’ll have down years, and then all of a sudden good stuff starts happening. …

“Any little guy has to have a little luck every now and then.”

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @KentuckyDerbyCJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Meet Epicenter, Kentucky Derby horse favorite from Bowling Green