Page 56 - October 2023

Bill Mooring
and his son, W.L.
Courtesy W.L. Mooring
The nature-versus-nurture question—how dollars in their pockets by giving them the
much of an organism’s characteristics
comes from genetics and how much comes from environment—continues to spark controversy.
But whether through nature or nurture, parents sometimes pass along not only physical characteristics, but also their passions and interests to their children. Such was the case with W.L. Mooring, who inherited both his love for racehorses and his entrepreneurial spirit from his father, the late Bill Mooring.
HIS BEGINNINGS
W.L. Mooring’s father, Bill, owned both
a threshing business—which, prior to buying a combine in 1950, ran 100 teams of horses and mules—and a sheep operation that at one time ran 5,000 ewes. When W.L and his late brother, Jerry, were kids, Bill introduced them to hard work, the realities of life, the business world, and the satisfaction of having a few
orphaned lambs to raise and sell.
Bill loved horses—particularly fast horses—
and frequently took his wife Katherine, and their boys to G. Rollie White Downs in the family’s hometown of Brady, Texas, about 130 miles northwest of Austin. W.L took his father’s passion and literally ran with it, riding his first match race there at age 12.
From there, before age 13, W.L. bought
a $64 lawn mower and added mowing to
his entrepreneurial resume. By 14 he had his driver’s license and had bought a 1936 Chevy twin-exhaust coupe with tuck-and-roll interior for $150.
Along the way, among other horses, Bill bought the 1952 mare Vandy’s Breeze (Vandy- Breeze 35, Doc Horn) from movie actor Audie Murphy when W.L. was 16.
The mare played a part in convincing W.L. to see his future not in sheep, landscape, or cars, but in the horse world.
W.L.’s wife Dee
Speedhorse Archives
54 SPEEDHORSE October 2023