'Avengers' Hope to Conquer Juvenile With Eight Rings

In comic books and films, the Avengers are a group of crime-fighting superheroes who save the universe.

In the world of Thoroughbred racing, the Avengers are the name bloodstock agent Donato Lanni bestowed upon a new partnership group that has started buying yearlings it hopes turn out to be super-talented.

The partnership, consisting mainly of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, is off to a good start with Eight Rings poised to make a name for himself in the Nov. 1 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

With his stallion rights already purchased by Ashford Stud—which will stand the son of Empire Maker —Purely Hot, by Pure Prize, when his racing days are over—Eight Rings announced his presence with a 6 1/4-length debut score and a six-length crushing of the Sept. 27 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. In between, he lost rider Drayden Van Dyke at the start of the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1), so his record is not perfect, and he must contend with highly regarded Dennis' Moment in the Juvenile. The winner of the 1 1/16-mile test will be head of the class going into the 3-year-old classic season next spring.

SF Racing, Starlight, and Sol Kumin—the principal in both Madaket and Head of Plains Partners—were all involved, more or less, with the triumphant campaign of undefeated Triple Crown winner Justify  in 2018. SF Racing was an original partner in the colt along with WinStar Farm and China Horse Club. A worldwide bloodstock and racing entity whose North American operation is run by Gavin Murphy and Tom Ryan, SF Racing divested itself of Justify's racing career, selling its 15% stake in him while retaining his breeding rights. Jack Wolf's Starlight picked up the 15%, while Kumin also bought a 15% interest in Justify's racing career from WinStar and China Horse Club in the name of Head of Plains.

Obviously, all involved had a positive experience with Justify, whose breeding rights were also purchased by Ashford in a deal worth between $70 and $80 million. But Ryan noted the Justify experience wasn't the driving factor in the new partnership formed among SF, Starlight, and Madaket. The formula of buying yearlings and dealing with one specific trainer, in this case Bob Baffert, had already been established by SF Racing.

"We run the same kind of operation in Australia with Newgate Farm, and we've had great success over the years," Ryan said. "Henry Field is the leader of that operation, and we felt like we wanted to put together a team of horses to give to Bob Baffert as we do in Australia, where we have trainer Peter Snowden.

"I feel like we've executed pretty well so far."

Wolf noted the group's success can be tied to its bloodstock team that analyzes sale prospects.

"We've got Donato and Henry Field and Frankie Brothers working together at the yearling sales the past two years, and it's nice to have six eyes instead of two. Donato and Bob know what each other like, and it's been a good process having Henry and Frankie involved as well."

The partnership came together in the summer of 2018 at Saratoga at a barbecue attended by all the principals.

"SF was the driving force behind this group," Kumin said. "They put the buying team together and came to us, and it was an easy decision because they have a history of success, and I like the guys and trust them. They focus on the financial side and have done extremely well. And for my group, and I think for Jack, we really enjoy racing while running a financially sound stable. So it was a perfect fit.

"We've partnered with SF before, and we've done lease deals on fillies. The toughest part is I've never bought expensive yearlings before. We bought Monomoy Girl for $100,000 and Lady Eli (as a 2-year-old) for $160,000. So this is different, signing tickets for $500,000, but if it's going to work, this is the team that can pull it off. 

"You're not going to end up with 10 stakes horses out of the 20 you buy, so you need one or two to pay for the rest, and you get Eight Rings and maybe another one or two to pop up, hopefully."

Minority pieces in Eight Rings have been bought by Fred Hertrich III, John Fielding, and Golconda Stables.

The primary group bought 22 yearling colts in 2018 and just less than 20 so far this year. Baffert, the recipient of this steady supply of good-looking yearlings, has obviously embraced the concept. Nobody has developed more top-shelf young colts in recent years, as witnessed by Triple Crown winners Justify and American Pharoah  and champions Game Winner and Arrogate , to name a few. 

"A big draw for this group is Bob taking an active interest in the owners, being communicative, and participating in the process of identifying and buying the horses. He's been awesome," Kumin noted. 

"It's a fun group," Baffert said. "At some point, Donato said, 'Here come the Avengers,' and that's stuck. We have a great team in place, and I'm just one small voter. I'm just there to say, 'I can live with this one, I can't live with that one' at the sales. You get all these successful minds together, and we feed off each other and listen to each other. 

"It's a brilliant idea. There's nothing like showing up for a big race. These guys went through it with Justify, and you figure they'd just get into sailing or something rather than try to top that. But they got right back into it, and it's like everyone wants to do it again."

And Eight Rings will try to do his part in getting them back to the heights.