Wolf’s
pack
BY JOE NEVILLS
S
OMETIMES, THE EFFORTS of a
small, focused group can produce
amazing things.
For Jack Wolf’s Starlight Racing,
it has produced an Eclipse Award
winner, four Kentucky Derby (G1)
starters, more than 50 stakes wins,
and a strike rate at auction that would make just
about anyone in the industry envious.
With six investing parties and about 25 horses in
training, Starlight Racing is a tight-knit group
compared with many ownership syndicates, focus-
Courtesy of Keeneland
Ownership syndicate Starlight Racing
succeeds with tight partnerships
ing on quality over quantity, both among its members and horses. That quality is apparent in the
partnership’s position among the top 40 owners in
North America by 2012 earnings, with $798,200
through July 4.
“It’s such a capital-intensive business, and I like
to spread my risk and the risk of the partners,” said
Wolf, the managing partner. “I actually like having
partners. It’s a lot more fun to go to the races, and if
you have any luck or success, it’s fun to experience
that with your partners.”
The seeds for the current version of Starlight
Racing were planted in 2000 when Wolf, now 63,
retired from his job as a hedge fund manager and
was looking for an activity to share with his wife,
Laurie. Wolf, a Louisville native, had owned a few
claiming horses with a friend in the mid-1980s, but
the responsibilities of work and family prevented
him from doing more in racing.
To get back into racing in a substantial way, the
Wolfs hired bloodstock agent Barry Berkelhammer
and purchased six yearlings at that year’s FasigTipton Kentucky selected yearling sale.
One of those yearlings turned out to be Harlan’s
Holiday, a three-time Grade 1 winner who was the
post-time favorite in the 2002 Kentucky Derby, finishing seventh.
The Wolfs began to take on partners in 2002, and
Starlight Racing’s best
Take the Points
26 July 21, 2012
Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Octave
13-4-7-2, $1,660,934
Daughter of Unbridled’s Song was a twotime Grade 1 winner. She sold for $4million at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky
fall mixed sale.
THOROUGHBRED TIMES
16-4-3-1, $943,590
The son of Even the Score was a turf
specialist who won two Grade 1 races.
He stands in Saudi Arabia.
Bob Coglianese/Gulfstream Park
Ashado
21-12-4-3, $3,931,440
A two-time Eclipse Award winner, the daughter of Saint Ballado won seven Grade 1 races
and sold for $9-million at the 2005 Keeneland
November sale, a then-world record for a
broodmare prospect.
22-9-6-1, $3,632,664
From Starlight’s first crop of yearlings
purchased at auction, the son of Harlan
was a three-time Grade 1 winner. He
stands at WinStar Farm.
Keeneland Association/Bill Straus
PhotosByZ.com
Harlan’s Holiday
New addition
Stable’s juvenile Shanghai Bobby wins the Track
Barron Stakes in June
had two additional investors in three yearlings they
purchased. One developed into two-time Eclipse
Award winner Ashado, and the second was Grade 1
winner Purge.
“Everybody says how lucky I am, but those were
the luckiest two guys, because I had probably
another ten horses on my own that year, and those
three are the ones that cleared the table,” Wolf said.
Wolf met one of the key cogs in Starlight’s operation in 2003 when he was introduced to Donald
Lucarelli at a surprise party on Lake George in upstate New York. Lucarelli and his wife, Barbara,
had owned Standardbreds earlier, but like Wolf,
they had to give it up for other responsibilities.
“We talked horses all night and had a lot of common interests,” Lucarelli said, “so I asked him, ‘If this
“We’re looking for somebody who’s
looking to get into the business for the
experience. That’s really the reason that
I’m in, because the economics can be
difficult to rationalize.”
thing comes down, would you consider taking on
another partner?’ Naturally, he was looking to spread
his risk at that time. We sold our business in 2004,
then sat down with him and Laurie and came up with
a game plan. He explained all the risks and rewards
of being in the horse business and I was all for it.”
DONNA BARTON BROTHERS added another title to her
already distinguished résumé earlier this year when she
was hired as the chief operating officer for Starlight Racing.
The retired jockey and current on-air personality joined
the ownership syndicate in April, and handles the group’s
partnership development and client relations. With the
yearling sale season under way, Barton Brothers has been
attracting and arranging investors for the next generation of Starlight runners.
“It’s been a little bit harder work than I expected,” she
said, “especially because I
went from doing the Triple
Crown to preparing for our first
sale in July and trying to get
our partnerships together by
then. It’s been hard since the
Preakness [Stakes (G1)], but
really since the Belmont Stakes
(G1) to get our ducks in a row
before we hit that first sale on
July 10.”
Barton Brothers says the position is a “labor of love” and
praised Starlight for being a
quality operation.
“Starlight Racing, the way
they do their partnerships, first
of all it’s been a remarkably successful business plan,” she said.
“Second, I’m never afraid to
show anybody the fine details
of the way they charge or expense anything. I feel like everything is done the way it should
be, and it’s an association that
I’m proud to be a part of.”
With only a few months on the job, Barton Brothers
has already made a strong first impression.
“Donna’s gotten a lot of positive responses,” said Jack
Wolf, principal partner for Starlight Racing. “Her exposure on NBC has helped. People respect her and like her.
I’d rather talk to her about going to a syndicate than talk
to me.”
Taking the position with Starlight gave Barton Brothers yet another hat to wear, on top of on-air roles with
NBC Sports and Television Games Network, working with
her husband, bloodstock agent Frankie Brothers, and a
burgeoning writing career.
However, Barton Brothers noted that her position with
NBC is her priority. In addition to coverage of Thoroughbred racing, her credits with the network include other
equestrian events.
“Everybody understands that my work for NBC comes
first,” she said. “There’s never a tug of war there. I never
Courtesy of NBC Universal/Steven Freeman photo
Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Donna Barton Brothers settles in as COO
have to explain to anybody that I’m tied up doing an NBC
show right now.”
In August 2011, Barton Brothers released her first book,
Inside Track: Insider’s Guide to Horse Racing, which details for beginners some of the basic “hows” and “whys”
of the sport in an easy-to-digest format, right down to
the best way to complain about a horse’s losing trip.
Though completing the book took about four years
from the first keystroke to the finished product, Barton
Brothers said the majority was written in about three
months, then sat on her computer until she decided to
finish it before someone else
puts out one like it.
“My impetus for writing the
book was just because this was
a book that I felt needed to be
out there for years,” she said.
“Finally, one day I said, ‘Okay,
nobody’s going to write the
book.’ I had picked up a couple
of different books along those
lines, and based on those
books, I wrote my table of contents before I ever wrote a page,
and my table of contents never
changed. From that perspective, it was just like filling in the
blanks. I’d write a chapter head
and write about it.”
Barton Brothers is now in the
process of writing her second
book, an autobiographical work
providing a first-person account
of the sport’s inner workings.
The inspiration for the project
came from literary agent Helen
Brann’s urging to read The Memory of it All by Betsy Blair,
an actress and one-time wife of Gene Kelly.
“When she told me that she wanted me to write a book
about horse racing and my experience in horse racing, I
just was not willing to do that, because I just thought there
were so many more interesting people than me and the
books don’t sell well,” Barton Brothers said. “When she
had me read this book, I got what she meant. She wanted
for somebody to take you behind the closed doors of
horse racing, to tell you what it’s all about, to really let the
reader be the camera on your shoulder in seeing how it
all plays out, and you don’t need to be the star of the book
for that to happen.
“I get questions all the time about what it’s like to be
on a horse and go that fast, and how a jockey gets mounts,
and I think, ‘This is why she wants the book written,’ because people just don’t understand that stuff, so I’m working on it. It’s taking me a lot longer than the first one.”
—Joe Nevills
continued on page 28
Starlight Racing’s best
Algorithms
Courtesy of Keeneland
Patricia McQueen
Hilda’s Passion
14-8-2-0, $739,493
Daughter of Canadian Frontier was a
sprint standout and set track record at
Gulfstream for seven furlongs in winning
Inside Information Stakes (G2). Sold for
$1,225,000 at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton
November sale.
THOROUGHBRED TIMES
3-3-0-0, $301,500
Son of Bernardini won the 2012 Holy Bull
Stakes (G3). Sidelined from Kentucky
Derby trail due to injury but is expected
back this fall.
Bob Coglianese/Gulfstream Park
Purge
15-6-1-2,
$905,434
Son of Pulpit
excelled at New
York tracks,
winning the
2005 Cigar Mile
Handicap (G1).
He stands in the
Philippines.
Keeneland/Coady Photography
Monba
10-3-0-2, $669,034
Winner of the 2008 Blue Grass
Stakes (G1), the son of Maria’s Mon
now stands at Penn Ridge Farms in
Pennsylvania.
July 21, 2012 27
PhotosByZ.com
PatLangPhoto.com
Keeneland/Coady Photography
“The benefit of that is that everybody watches the
races together,” Barton Brothers said, “so everybody
gets to watch the races together and enjoy them
as a group—enjoy the wins and absorb the losses.”
from page 27
Lucarelli soon became one of the managing partners of Starlight, and handles much of the bookkeeping responsibilities for the partnership.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m living the dream
that a lot of guys wish they could live,” he said.
“Jack and Laurie really gave us an opportunity to
get in with their partnership. I don’t know what my
future would have held if I’d done it differently, but
I know this has been a very positive experience for
us and our family.”
Getting in
While Starlight has a small group of investors, it
is by no means a closed shop. The syndicate is in
the process of raising capital, and has hired retired
jockey and television broadcast personality Donna
Barton Brothers as its chief operating officer to
help attract new investors.
For those interested in joining the syndicate, the
first thing it’s going to take is money. Because
Starlight is a high-end racing operation with a very
select number of members, the capital needed to in-
28 July 21, 2012
vest is relatively high compared with those with
more members.
“It’s not for everybody,” Barton Brothers said.
“Starlight is pretty high-end. It’s a boutique-ish
type of racing syndicate. The minimum amount to
invest is more than most people can afford, and certainly more than I would be able to afford.”
Like a yearling at the sale, prospective members
are vetted by Wolf and the other partners to ensure
that they will jell with the group, agree with the
syndicate’s philosophies, and understand the potential risks associated with the venture.
“A lot of us attend the races, so the first thing we
like to do is just sit down and get to know you and
explain the risks that are involved,” Wolf said.
“We’re looking for somebody who’s looking to get
into the business for the experience. That’s really
the reason that I’m in, because the economics can
be difficult to rationalize.”
And just what is Starlight Racing’s philosophy?
“Our philosophy is that we buy yearlings,” Wolf
said. “Some people would rather buy ready-made
horses or horses out of the two-year-old sale. We
THOROUGHBRED TIMES
send most of them to Todd Pletcher and normally
take our time getting them there. We try to get the
horses placed in a spot where they can hopefully
become stakes-placed or winners. When the horses
show us they’re not of that caliber, we’ll tend to put
them in claiming races or find people for a private
transaction.
“The good ones, we normally will try to sell as a
stallion prospect or a broodmare prospect after their
three- or four-year-old year. That’s basically our
game plan. If you’re somebody that’s wanting to
have a horse you buy as a yearling and race until
it’s ten, then you probably don’t want to be in our
partnership.”
Investors that do tick off the right boxes can expect to have a cohesive group to join in the ownership experience.
“The benefit of that is that everybody watches
the races together,” Barton Brothers said, emphasizing that the group looks for for team players, “so
everybody gets to watch the races together and
enjoy them as a group—enjoy the wins and absorb
the losses.”
Auction block
The launching pad for Starlight Racing’s success
has always been the yearling sales.
Each year, Starlight purchases from nine to 15
horses in the mid to upper segment of the market.
Bloodstock agent Frank Brothers has worked with
Starlight since 2009, replacing Berkelhammer.
“I think that the reason that we’ve had success is
we’ve consistently, from the get-go, attended the
three major yearling sales,” Wolf said of the FasigTipton Kentucky July, Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, and
Keeneland September yearling sales. “I’ve been to
every one of those three sales since 2000. The consistency of going to the sales, knowing who you
want to deal with, what type of stallions you want
to buy, the pedigrees. The comfort level of those
three sales has been beneficial.”
Wolf said he will often take a yearling’s pedigree
into consideration last when checking out potential
purchases, instead focusing on athleticism, balance,
conformation, and potential two-turn ability.
While Wolf has been active in the yearling market
for more than a decade, he has not embraced the
two-year-old market with the same vigor, preferring
to control a yearling’s development. Wolf sends the
newly acquired yearlings to J. J. Pletcher’s Payton
Training Center in Ocala to get them started.
“Through the years, I’ve bought two horses in the
two-year-old sales and haven’t had any luck,” Wolf
said. “It’s just something that I became comfortable
with. We like to get them as yearlings so we can
break them the way we want to break them, and get
them on schedule the way we want to.”
Looking ahead
Starlight Racing is in the midst of yet another
successful year, with a pair of three-year-olds that
caused a stir during the spring season.
Algorithms grabbed headlines in January when
he won the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), becoming the
first horse to defeat champion two-year-old male
Hansen. Algorithms emerged as one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby, but his campaign
was derailed when a popped splint forced him to
scratch the morning of the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of
Youth Stakes (G2) and undergo surgery. The
Education and aftercare
Jack Wolf has been involved with several programs
to enhance the lives of the human and equine participants in the sport. He and his wife, Laurie, are on the
board of directors for The Race for Education, a scholarship program for family members of racing industry
participants and those interested in becoming a part of
the business.
Along with fellow owners Paul Saylor and Johns Martin, the Wolfs sponsor the Ashado scholarship, which
awards $6,000 per year for four years to an outstanding
female student looking to pursue a career in an equinerelated field. The Wolfs also contribute 1% of the earnings from Starlight racehorses to the organization.
“I think they really care about the people in the industry as much as the horses,” said Elisabeth Jensen,
president and executive director of The Race for Education. “Often, a lot of people are very concerned
about the horses day to day, and the welfare of the
Bernardini colt is currently under the care of J. J.
Pletcher preparing for his return.
“He’ll be back this fall,” Wolf said. “We’re going
to take a little more time on him than the normal cat.
We probably won’t see Algorithms back to the track
until the middle of August, but he’s doing well.”
Wolf said that Hutcheson Stakes (G2) winner
Thunder Moccasin will be returning soon from a
spring breather for a summer campaign.
With those two horses, along with Heavy Breathing, who finished third in the Vinery Racing Spiral
Stakes (G3), Starlight had an active season on the
Triple Crown trail. However, Wolf said the syndicate’s major goals have evolved over the years to
more realistic objectives.
“Everybody else would say to win the Kentucky
Derby, and that may have been one of my ultimate
goals when I was getting started, but that’s not
horses, and the long-term care of the horses, but a lot
of times, the individuals that actually work in the industry day in and day out taking care of the horses don’t
really get a lot of attention from the people in the industry, and I think the Wolfs really care about the people
that it takes to run the industry from a hands-on side,
but also the young people that want to have a future in
the industry.”
Jack Wolf is also active in the post-racetrack careers of equine competitors as the president of the
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, a not-for-profit organization launched earlier this year with the goal of
serving as an accrediting and fund-raising body for aftercare facilities. Launched in February, the alliance already has received backing from such groups as
Breeders’ Cup Ltd., the Jockey Club, and Keeneland
Association, and Wolf said the organization is close to
establishing permanent funding.
really it now,” Wolf said. “I think the goal is to buy
good horses, to have good people as our partners
and have a good time, to continue to compete at the
graded stakes level and just watch these horses develop. Those are realistic goals, but to have a
Breeders’ Cup or a Derby as the ultimate goal,
really is not it anymore. We’ve run in four of those
Derbys and three or four Oaks and a number of
Breeders’ Cups, and man, you’ve gotta be lucky to
win that Derby. To make that your ultimate goal is
a little bit crazy.”
Regardless of the race’s level of prestige, Wolf
said that the thrill of victory is a hard habit to kick.
“The thing that keeps you coming back is that
last 30 or 40 yards of the race,” he said. “I guess
we’re all just action junkies, but that’s the biggest
part of it—being in a position to win in the last 30
or 40 yards.”
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