WinStar took possession of the latest acreage on Feb. 23, but a best-case estimate of when it will be usable for horses is about a year-and-a-half, according to Decker. "We're not sure exactly what we're going to do with it yet...part of it will be for mares," he said. He is currently waiting for 250 acres, developed last year, to mature. "Building the barns is not going to be the thing that slows us down," he said. "Waiting for the pastures to fill in will. Mother Nature didn't cooperate with our pastures that well." Decker said he currently manages about 130 horses on the main portion of WinStar, which is about 400 acres. The additional tract of 250 acres could be inhabitable by this fall.
Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner have purchased 314 acres next to their WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky. The addition brings the farm's total land to about 964 contiguous acres. The latest purchase is from James and Patricia Olson, who owned the land immediately south of WinStar, the former Prestonwood Farm. The land was purchased in two tracts for $6,288,600, or approximately $20,027 per acre. Rich Decker, president of WinStar, said the corporation has paid an average of $12,500 for all the land it currently owns.