By Patrick Crowley
Enquirer staff writer

Charlie Deters (right) holds his prized Foaming Brine as farm manager Kenny Bach stands with her foal at Deters' Ben-D horse and cattle farm in Nicholson, Ky. The Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

NICHOLSON - A hint of Charlie Deters' success as a horse breeder can be found in the bathroom of his southern Kenton County home.

Deters, 74, and his wife, Mary Sue, raised 11 children, including seven boys, in a rustic but comfortable wood-and-brick home that sits on a tree-filled lot just across Green Road from his 650-acre Ben-D horse and cattle farm. The bathroom is furnished with two toilets and one urinal, the sort of receptacle most often found in men's' public restrooms.

"With seven boys," Deters said, "it just made sense to put in a urinal."

Deters has used the same kind of common-sense approach to build a successful and wide-ranging business portfolio that includes interests in restaurants, real estate development, banking and farming.

But it is in breeding horses where Deters' passion mixes easily with his pragmatism.

Raising horses is still a business, and Deters scored the biggest deal of his 30-year career last week at the Fasig Tipton Saratoga Yearlings Sale at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

A filly that is the daughter of Deters' Foaming Brine and Lexington thoroughbred Unbridled Song sold for $510,000 at Saratoga.

It is believed to be the largest amount a Northern Kentucky-raised thoroughbred has ever fetched.

"We were thrilled," Deters said, "but not totally surprised because Foaming Brine is a great horse. You'll be hearing more about her in the future."

Foaming Brine has a year-old foal at Deters' farm that will also eventually be sold. The father is Cat Thief, a horse that earned nearly $4 million over his racing career and won the Breeders' Cup Classic.

And she is carrying a foal of Doneraile Court, son of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.

Deters also raised Down the Aisle, a horse that over his career won more than $1 million.

"This can be a tough business," he said.

"Breeding takes a long time to learn and do right. But it gets in your blood," Deters said.

Deters, who was raised on a farm, is a lawyer by training and the founding partner of Deters Benzinger and LaVelle in Crestview Hills, one of Northern Kentucky's best-known law firms.

But he also has other business interests in:

• Banking. Deters is majority shareholder in Farmers National Bank and the vice chairman of the Independent National Bank of Ocala, Fla., where he keeps a winter home.

• Restaurants. Deters is chairman of the Deters Co., which owns four Wendy's restaurants and is building another in Grant County; five Blue Pantry Convenience stores, which include BP Service Stations; and the Snappy Tomato Pizza franchise. Deters' company owns three pizza restaurants and is the franchiser of another 60.

• Real estate. Deters developed the Independence Town Center shopping center, and has also worked in home building and hospitality.

"It's a lot, and it gets hectic," Deters said. "That's one of the reasons I've stayed on this farm. I feel like I can get away from it all out here."

"I come out here," Deters said as he stood in the entrance to his horse barn, "and I never want to do anything else. This is my real love."

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com