Duncan Taylor was 19 when he set out on his own in the Thoroughbred business with partner Mike Shannon in 1976. With two pickup trucks and $10,000 each, they launched a broodmare boarding business named Taylor Made Farm by Shannon's wife Anna.
On Jan. 1 Taylor stepped down as president and CEO of what became a family-run operation that has grown from 125 acres to 1,200 acres, built the largest North American sales consignment by gross, stands seven stallions, and manages multiple racing and breeding partnerships.
"We didn't start with a big fancy business plan," said Taylor. "We just worked hard and did our best to take care of our clients' mares. I'm not the greatest horseman, and I'm not the greatest businessman, but I'm always looking for ways to do something better for my customer."
Besides the sweat equity Taylor put into building the business, he said the key to its long-term success was bringing in three of his five brothers as partners—Ben, Frank, and Mark.
"That was part of the Joe Taylor plan," said Duncan Taylor, referring to his father, who managed Gainesway starting in the 1950s when it was a Standardbred breeding and racing operation and helped it grow into a prominent Thoroughbred farm with John Gaines. The Taylors also ran their own family business on its Bona Terra Acres (Latin for good earth) in Jessamine County.
"He really planted that seed with us early on. He worked us hard and would tell us stories about brothers that did so much more and much better because they stuck together," he said. "Mike was big on the idea, too, about bringing my brothers in. If I hadn't I would have owned 100% of the business, but I might have owned 100% of something that was worth zero instead of what it's grown into. Taylor Made would not be what it is without my brothers."
Ben, Frank, and Mark Taylor all recalled hearing their father's drumbeat about working together, and they also unanimously agreed the farm would not be where it is today without Duncan's vision and work ethic.
"He led by example," said Ben, who becomes president of Taylor Made Stallions as part of the transition. "It was hard work day after day after day that got us here; there was no secret formula. We tried to adjust to what the market was doing, serve our customers, and work hard. Duncan was non-stop leading the way. His work ethic is unbelievable. He puts in more work in one week than most people do in three."
Frank, who moves from being vice president of boarding and farm operations to vice president of Taylor Made Sales Agency, said he appreciated Duncan welcoming the brothers into the business.
"He could have done it on his own, but he basically told us when you get out of school you can come be a partner. Now, we were indentured servants for several years but then became an owner," he recalled. "Now we have the next generation of Taylors and Paynes ready to take it over in the next 10-15 years. It is in our culture to work together; something my dad told us 10,000 times. He was right."
Frank's daughter Katie is taking a new role as vice president of operations, while his son Joe is a Thoroughbred adviser and bloodstock investments manager, while Duncan's son Marshall and Ben's son Brooks are also Thoroughbred advisers. The Paynes are the children of long-time Taylor Made employee Pat Payne, who is a Thoroughbred adviser. His son Logan Payne is taking the position of vice president of boarding and general farm manager, and Alex Payne is a Thoroughbred adviser.
Mark, who takes over as president and CEO, recalled that his goal when he joined the company was just "to keep within striking distance" of the work Duncan put in every day.
"A lot of days it would be dark when I started and I'd be done at 7 o'clock at night, but whenever I left, Duncan's car was still there and when I arrived the next morning he was already there," he recalled. "He always drove some beat-up car that he drove until the wheels fell off. There that car would be parked in the dark in the top parking lot with the light pole shining down on it."
Much of what drove Duncan, said Mark, was his dogged commitment to improvement.
"When he goes to a restaurant or any other business, he is studying them like a hawk to find out what they do well that we could incorporate and at the same time dissecting on what they could be doing better. He can't help himself; he's so passionate about it," he said. "To Duncan, the status quo has horns growing out of its head and a pitchfork. It is the absolute enemy."
Duncan said his relentless searching for better ways to run the business was all about offering the best customer service. Without customers, he added, he had no shot to grow the business.
"I was always thinking, if I owned this horse and had a big bank note on it and was selling it, then what else can I do to try to bring in more money. I was always looking to fix a problem and try to create value," he said.
Getting into sales and later stallions were natural ventures for the farm because it broadened the services it could provide.
Taylor Made moved quickly from boarding to sales, offering its first public consignment in 1978 at the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages sale where it sold a mare for $2,200. The farm would then take seven yearlings to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where its first yearling sold for $30,000. Taylor Made's sale business would grow exponentially to 92 horses sold for $3,851,100 in 1980 to 160 horses sold for $8,452,500 by 1985.
Taylor Made Sales Agency became the leading North American consignor by gross sales in 1990 when it sold 416 of 488 horses offered for a total of $28,973,818. The farm has never fallen out of the top three by gross sales since then and has been the leading consignor for 26 of the past 28 years. The farm hit a peak in 2006 when it sold 1,012 horses for a total of $170,642,000.
Stallions became a part of Taylor Made in 1997 when the farm bought Saint Ballado and moved him to Kentucky from Ocala Stud and also launched the stud career of multiple grade 1 winner Unbridled's Song, who became the leading North American sire in 2017.
Relatively quickly Duncan said he worried the farm had grown too fast and that its customer service suffered as a result.
"I had people lined up outside the consignment waiting on me to help them set reserves and I didn't feel I was giving them the attention they deserved. It just wasn't running like I wanted it to run," he said.
One program that had been providing Duncan business advice and guidance at the time was a group called the Alternative Board, created by Louisville-based consultant Dave Barone. The Alternative Board put together a group of business owners to serve as each other's board of directors. Duncan raised his concerns to the group and was told each of the farm's divisions were silos that were not communicating effectively with each other and consequently the customers. The conversation with the board led Duncan to create Thoroughbred advisers, who are account managers that handle whatever a given customer needs whether it's related to breeding, sales, or partnerships.
"It was a whole new level of expense but it has let us keep growing," Duncan said. "Every customer that's a buyer is a seller, too, so you might have a breeder that sells yearlings and then he needs to buy broodmares. When you have close relationships, you're in touch with what they need and we can continue to put Taylor Made horses in front of people."
The Taylor brothers have been discussing succession plans for years, but Duncan said he recognized this year was time to execute on those plans.
"I've been reading about and studying companies for years and it almost always better for the leader to step down when they are healthy and have a clear mind, not wait until there is a problem," he said. "We have a lot of talent in the company and are very well prepared. I'm not going away and can help them in any way they need help."
When assessing what Taylor Made needs to do to maintain its prominence, Mark said he goes back to his family's roots.
Growing up, he said, the family did not have much but they were ambitious and wanted to accomplish things in an industry that seemed to be dominated by business titans and wealthy Old Guard families.
"We were this rag-tag group trying to scratch ourselves to some kind of relevance. We wanted a seat at the table," he recalled. "We just kept working and a lot of people helped us along the way. To try to list them all would be unfair because there are hundreds, but Aaron and Marie Jones did do much for us. I think Mr. Jones loved helping out these kids, the underdogs. Without them and our customers, many of them dear friends, none of this would be possible."
Today many people may now think of Taylor Made as a member of the Establishment, according to Mark, so going forward he said the 120-member team at Taylor Made will need to be even more intentional and creative about ensuring each customer's success.
"We want to stick to our fundamentals and focus on our core values. We cannot lose our complete commitment to honesty and integrity," he said. "What we do is stress that we're family, and we're not too good to be a servant. The customer is still on the pedestal."
As important, he said is focusing on taking care of Taylor Made's team members.
The farm implemented a program called His Way at Work, according to Mark, that takes a holistic approach to managing employees by considering their family and faith along with their financial needs and goals.
"We need to help people live great lives and reach their goals for themselves and their families, from the night watchman to the groom to the Thoroughbred advisers," he said.
"Think of all the hands that have been on the grade 1 winners that have come off this farm from the time they were conceived to the time they left Taylor Made. If any one of those employees had not done their job, that horse could have gotten hurt, gotten sick, died foaling, or not even been conceived. We want our people to feel proud about the big goals out there--to produce grade 1 winners, sell sale-toppers, and help our customers make money--and know they had their fingerprints on it. That will continue to deliver big-time results."
