W. D. Cubbedge

Birthdate: Sept. 5, 1951  

Birthplace: Bainbridge, Ohio

Residence: Catlettsburg, Ky.

Bill Cubbedge first got involved in Thoroughbred ownership in 2006 when he teamed up with Mike Lauffer, his longtime partner in natural gas drilling ventures. One of their first purchases together was the broodmare Oatsee for $135,000. The following year, Oatsee’s offspring were proving themselves at racing’s highest levels and her value increased tremendously.  She produced a colt for them in 2008 and later that year, the partners sold her for $1.55 million. They offered the colt as a yearling at public auction in 2009 but when bidding stopped at $275,000, an amount they deemed insufficient, they retained ownership and eventually named him Shackleford for a region of the North Carolina outer banks, where untamed horses roam. Admittedly conservative in his racehorse investments, Cubbedge is well aware of his fabulous good fortune in owning Shackleford, one of racing’s brightest stars whose accomplishments include winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes and 2012 Metropolitan Handicap (Met Mile).

Cubbedge and Lauffer are partners in Belvedere Farm near Paris, Ky., which is run by their adviser Marty Takacs.