Remembering Norman Casse, 'Guiding Force' at OBS

As news of Sunday's death of Ocala Breeders' Sales Company co-founder Norman Casse spread through the global Thoroughbred community, colleagues and contemporaries recalled Casse as an old-school “gentleman competitor” with a flair for deal-making who took great pride and enjoyment in establishing his professional and personal legacies.

“He was one of the early founders of OBS and was our longtime chairman, so his fingerprints are throughout not only the sales company, but the entire sales industry,” recalled OBS president Tom Ventura. “He wore his heart on his sleeve. He would help anybody that was in need, and he was very well respected, not only here within the company, but for putting Ocala itself on the map of the horse world.

“For him, OBS was like his baby,” Ventura continued. “Whenever we moved forward, whenever we had a record sale, or whenever we had a significant accomplishment, he was very proud of that. He certainly felt a strong connection, and deservedly so. He was here at the very beginning, and was one of a group of guys who really took the 2-year-old sales to the next step. He was always the type of guy who said 'If you bring the horses, they will sell,' and he was very loyal to the company in that way. He would bring his own horses to the sale and help it get even further established, and his methods proved out.”

Ventura underscored that Casse was a big believer in a hands-on style of running the sales company, especially in the formative years of the business when there was no template for specializing in 2-year-old sales.

“He was not one to be afraid to get his hands dirty,” Ventura said. “He would be in there pitching to get things done and to make things happen. Some of the stories that I heard of what needed to get done when the sale was right on top of them were funny, and although I was not around firsthand to experience them, Norman loved to relive those days and kind of look back and laugh at some of the crazy things that happened when the company was just starting out.”

Ryan Mahan, the chief auctioneer for OBS, Barretts Equine Ltd., and Keeneland Association, Inc., said Casse was responsible for changing the sales game, particularly with respect to 2-year-old auctions. He did so, Mahan explained, through relentless promotion and a zeal for doing deals.

“Honestly, he was a visionary leader,” Mahan said. “He always had his eye on promotion. He was a great promoter of the Florida Thoroughbred industry. He got me my job there at Ocala, and he promoted me a lot when I was struggling to get started. He'll be remembered not only for his great promotion, but as a guy who loved to deal, you know? He was one of those old characters who just loved 'the deal' and 'to deal.' That's what I'll always remember Norm for.”

Mahan recalled that when he was first working behind the scenes in the Florida sales, Casse would round up the younger staff members and insist on taking them to the races—or even to the jai alai fronton—for a little extracurricular action. Casse encouraged everyone to pool their betting money, Mahan said, not so much to get rich, but to have a good time together and to blow off a little steam from work.

“It was certainly more belly-to-belly commerce back in those days, unlike today with social media and doing everything online or over the phone,” Mahan said. “Norm was a face-to-face kind of guy. He just loved putting people and horses together. He just loved being in the mix.”

Mahan emphasized that Casse was responsible for many positive changes as the size and scope of OBS evolved.

“When I first went to Ocala, the 2-year-old sales were very, very different,” Mahan said. “They didn't work fast. They worked in pairs. Then all of a sudden it became a big business, and of course 2-year-olds are now what Ocala is all about. Norm was a very big part of that. He thought years in front. Again, I think it was because he liked to 'do the deal.'”

Casse's modus operandi, Mahan said, was simple: “Here's a horse, ready-made. Not a yearling, not a weanling, not a mare. Here's a 2-year-old horse, ready to race. Let's do a deal.”

Such enthusiasm for upfront, on-the-level deal-making earned Casse universal respect from his contemporaries, even those at rival sales companies.

“As a guiding force at OBS, he was an innovative entrepreneur, a well-rounded horseman and a formidable competitor,” said Terence Collier, director of marketing at Fasig-Tipton Co. “He mellowed in recent years, and it was with a huge sense of pride that he shared the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren. Whether it was at a society gala or at a horse sale, one way or another, Norman could be guaranteed to provide the fireworks.”

Collier's reference to pyrotechnics might come as a surprise to some in the Thoroughbred world who did not know that Casse's company, Skylighters of Florida, lit up the heavens at fireworks celebrations all across America.

Collier said he didn't even know himself until one day a few years ago after a Fourth of July celebration when he happened to be sitting with Casse at Belmont Park and commented on how much he had enjoyed the previous evening's fireworks display.

“I'm glad you liked it,” Casse modestly replied. “That was my company that put on the show.”

Henry Beeby, the group chief executive at Goffs, recalled when he and Casse both occupied seats on a Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers committee.

“He always said that he felt that his organization, OBS, and the one for which I worked at the time, DBS in England, had a lot in common because we were both smaller entities,” Beeby said. “We would often compare notes, and I found him to be charming and knowledgeable. Really just a pleasant man, a top guy. He knew what he was talking about, and had a genuine twinkle in his eye. He had a bit of a sense of humor as well, which was always appreciated.”

Casse's passion for horses will be carried on by the family members who have followed him into the Thoroughbred industry.

“Certainly, he loved the horse business and he's passed it along to his children,” Ventura said. “They're fully entrenched in the business, and Norman's legacy is going to follow through in his children and grandchildren.”

—@thorntontd