Max Player Goes Public Heading Into Belmont Stakes

Among all that's different about this year's Triple Crown season is a new concept in Thoroughbred ownership being tested by owner/breeder and hedge fund executive George Hall.

Hall and co-founder Joseph De Perio have put a new spin on fractional racehorse ownership by allowing fans to buy shares in a package of horses that includes Belmont Stakes (G1) contender Max Player, who comes into the classic off a win in the Feb. 1 Withers Stakes (G3).

Horse racing often seems to throw up more obstacles than lucky breaks, but the circumstances leading up to the launch of Hall's venture, named SportBLX Thoroughbreds, could not have been scripted any better.

First, Max Player was bred and raised on Hall's Annestes Farms near Versailles, Ky., a son of Honor Code  out of the stakes winner Fools in Love, who Hall raced. Then the colt's slow early development as a racehorse turned a corner this winter with a victory in the Withers Stakes, and his steady maturing gave trainer Linda Rice enough confidence to try him in the Belmont. Hall, incidentally, has had good luck in the Belmont, having won the race in 2011 with longshot Ruler On Ice.

"It is really kind of amazing. The timing of Max Player, the Belmont Stakes, and our getting the site up and running has all been pretty fortunate," said Hall, who has been working with De Perio on SportBLX's development for about a year and half. "It was good luck for us in the first year we're trying to do this that I happened to have a horse of that caliber. We thought the Derby trail is the most interesting to investors, so when Max Player won the Withers we had a homebred we could use for this project."

SportBLX Thoroughbreds co-owns Max Player with Hall. Besides owning 14% of the Belmont contender, the corporation also owns a yearling filly by Munnings , who is scheduled to be sold in the fall; and, an unraced 2-year-old son of Tonalist  named Swingman.

The corporation is selling shares at $100 each to raise capital to cover racing expenses for the horses, to buy a greater ownership interest in Max Player, and also for future horse purchases. Under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, shareholders have to hold onto their investments for a year before they could be sold.

On paper, at this point, Max Player's value is heading in the right direction. The colt was appraised by a third party at $250,000 prior to the Withers. After his victory in the Withers, his value was reappraised at $1.75 million, according to De Perio, which represents approximately 85% of the value of the SportBLX Thoroughbreds corporation. The company began offering shares around June 8 when Hall and De Perio were confident Max Player would start in the Belmont. The company will be offering shares until 4 p.m. on Belmont Day, then trading will be closed.

"This is the first time the Average Joe has access to owning a piece of a horse running in a classic race," said Hall. "Fortunately Max Player came along and we are using him for proof of concept. If people own a small piece of a horse that's in the race, then it makes the race more exciting for them. Wherever the horse goes from the Belmont, people will be interested in those races, too, even though they are not as interesting as the Triple Crown races. The idea ultimately is to get more people interested in horse racing and horse ownership. The more people are willing to make investments in the sport, the better for the sport itself."

Hall also wants to see his concept offer new opportunities for owners.

"What we want eventually is for this to become a popular thing for owners or trainers to access the marketplace through our platform and sell shares and raise capital for Thoroughbreds," he said.  

Last summer Max Player didn't look like an investment start-up's poster boy. The colt was not showing much enthusiasm during his morning works and Rice told Hall she wasn't sure whether the colt had any talent. He eventually showed enough that Rice tried him in a maiden special weight Nov. 12 at Parx Racing.

"In his first race, his head wasn't in it, he ran very green, and way behind the pack," recalled Hall. "I almost turned off the TV before they reached the turn. Then in the stretch, he showed some talent and finished second coming on."

Max Player made his second start Dec. 17 at Parx and showed an impressive closing kick that propelled him to a 4 1/4-length victory.

"In his second race, he was more professional," said Rice during a recent Zoom interview organized by SportBLX. "George and I discussed taking him to Arkansas to race, and we decided it was too far to go. We looked at the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs because we were not racing yet in New York and didn't have a definite answer about when we would be racing. We knew New York would be racing soon and thought we would have better opportunities at home. Because of the way he ran in his second start, we decided to jump right into the Withers, knowing it was an aggressive move. Of course, that turned out fabulous."

Max Player comes into the Belmont, however, off a nearly five-month layoff, which could be an issue for a horse that has only three starts, but Rice said she believes the colt has continued to progress.

"He has matured greatly during that time," she said. "I'm pleased where we are now, going into the Belmont with a fresh horse."

Having the opportunity to own even a small piece of a promising 3-year-old with Hall was enough incentive for New Jersey businessman Bill Brannagan to buy in during an offering done prior to the Withers just on Max Player. The longtime racing fan, who got into ownership with claimers about 15 years ago, said he liked that his investment covered the entire horse's career, including any potential breeding rights deal.

"Compared to what I did before, this is a much bigger thing," Brannagan said. "I do get constant updates, so I feel like I'm part of the team. It really is remarkable. It is not like owning a stock where you can't talk with the people actually running the company. With these guys, I can send out an email and someone gets back to me."

Brannagan not only got the chance to have his picture taken in the winner's circle following the Withers but now he owns a part of a Belmont contender.

"It has been a great time. If you're a horse racing fan, it didn't matter that it was Aqueduct on a dreary day, it was a grade 3 win," he said.

Hall said he knows the long layoff and tough competitors like favorite Tiz the Law make the Belmont a tough contest for Max Player, but he is hoping the colt's trajectory of steady improvement will keep him on a path toward bigger things later in the year.

"If he comes out of the race in good form, then we will start making a plan for Kentucky Derby," he said.