Authentic Brings The Avengers to New Jersey

At a time when the nation is in the grip of a pandemic, residents of New Jersey can take heart.

The Avengers are coming to the Jersey Shore.

No, not Steed and Mrs. Peel, if you're old enough to remember the always-victorious secret agents of the old British spy show. And not exactly Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the rest of their superhero pals.

Instead, we're talking about Bob Baffert, Tom Ryan, Gavin Murphy, Sol Kumin, Jack Wolf, and more, who will be there either in person or in spirit July 18 when their grade 2-winning, 3-year-old, Authentic will try to save the day as he headlines the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park as a 4-5 morning-line favorite.

"It's pretty amazing what we've been able to do," said Wolf, the founder and managing partner of Starlight Racing who was dubbed "Thor."

In analyzing what a superb collection of investors, bloodstock agents, and a Hall of Fame trainer have achieved in a brief period of time, it surely seems pulled from the pages of a comic book instead of reality. To purchase 24 horses collectively and have three of them land lucrative multi-million-dollar stallion deals with top farms can surely be viewed from the perspective of the racetrack as something as improbable as having an immortal Viking god with a magical hammer save your city.

"We spent a good amount of dough on the horses, but a lot of people spend a lot of dough on horses," Wolf said. "All I can say is our results have been fantastic. I give all the credit to Tom Ryan and Gavin Murphy (of SF Bloodstock) for putting the group together. It's a cool concept."

Authentic, runner-up in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) in his previous start, will try to add to that formula of success as he enters Saturday's 1 1/8-mile stakes with a career record of three wins in four starts for original owners Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing and newcomer Spendthrift Farm, which entered the picture in early June when the farm purchased a majority interest and stallion rights to Authentic and then sold part of the racing rights to MyRaceHorse Stable. 

"It would be great to win the Haskell with (Spendthrift Farm owner B. Wayne Hughes). He's an awesome guy and obviously a huge supporter of the game," said Kumin, who heads the Madaket partnership.

The new ownership group and the stud deal for Authentic is yet another testament to the venture's accomplishments and why the core people behind it earned the nickname The Avengers, with each of the central figures taking the name of one of the movie and comic book heroes.

Bob Baffert, who trains the group's horses, was dubbed "Captain America," though he has a different take on that as he appeals a 15-day suspension after two of his horses failed post-race drug tests at Oaklawn Park, with one them of being The Avengers' Charlatan, who was disqualified from a May 2 victory in a division of the Arkansas Derby (G1).

"I feel like The Joker," he said.

Ryan is known as "Nick Fury"—sans the eye patch—and he was the mastermind who brought everyone together with the support of SF Bloodstock managing partner Murphy, who he calls a "friend and mentor" and is known as "Iron Man" in the group.

"Gavin influences a lot of the good things that happen to us and needs to be recognized for what he's done," said Ryan, who handles day-to-day Northern Hemisphere operations for SF. "I like to surround myself with the best people I can and get everyone focused on winning. When you do, the result is the Authentics and the Eight Rings of the world. You let the horses do the talking. You need to take the ego out of it and be disciplined and organized. It's our process that's the key."

It was Ryan who first conceived the idea of merging the buying power of Murphy, Wolf's Starlight Racing and Kumin's Madaket Stables with the keen eyes of bloodstock agents Donato Lanni, who the team calls "Hawkeye," Frank Brothers ("Vision") and Henry Field ("War Machine") to attack the top yearling sales and then turn the horses over to Baffert.

"It's the pinnacle of the sport to be in a position to win a race like the Haskell and it's because we have a great team. The people selecting horses for us are second to none. A lot of credit should be bestowed on them. They are amazing judges of talent and we are fortunate to have them," Ryan said. "We also have a great veterinarian working for us in Dr. Michael Hore ("Dr. Strange"). It's a successful and wonderful venture and the one thing binding us together is Bob Baffert. He's a great trainer, but he's also an incredible judge of horse flesh and he's proven that time and time again.

One of the best examples of Baffert's work was 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify . The undefeated career of the son of Scat Daddy that served as the genesis of The Avengers.

SF Racing originally owned a share of Justify but sold his racing rights to Starlight and Kumin's Head of Plains Partners early in 2018. Through Justify's success, friendships and business relationships were formed and Ryan pitched the idea to Wolf and Kumin about teaming financially and uniting their favored bloodstock agents to buy yearlings at the upcoming sales.

"It's the people that make this work," said Kumin, a.k.a "Star Lord." "Donato is as good as anybody. His track record is outstanding. He's bought as many good horses as anyone around and he could be the most underrated guy in the horse business. He's tremendous. Then combining him with Tom Ryan, Frankie Brothers, and Henry Field (managing director of Newgate Stud Farm in Australia), with Baffert being the last part, it's an incredible team. When you have them buying the horses, Eddie Woods breaking them, Tom managing them and Bob training them, how do you beat that? I would partner with Gavin and Tom anytime. They and Jack are great partners."

While the core partners have been SF, Starlight, and Madaket, the trio also brought in Fred Hertrich III, John Fielding, Golconda Stables, and Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Stables for minor shares on some of the horses. SF, Hertrich, Fielding, and Golconda were original owners of Authentic who sold their shares to Spendthrift.

Together they spent roughly $11.4 million on 24 horses in 2018, all of them colts, with prices ranging from a high of $950,000 to a low of $200,000 with an average price of $475,000.

"It was a smart move," Baffert said. "We have a good group picking out the horses. It's worked out and we've had fun. You get a lot of chances to get a good horse. It's for people who want action and want to sit in the front row. There's a lot of action, and that's what it's all about."

To date, half of the 24 are winners, but not all of them were home runs and some have already been sent to different trainers.

The most expensive purchase, Wolfpack, was retired without ever racing.

"We had our share of some slow horses and some who had setbacks. It's a grind but you have to manage them aggressively and give them every chance to be as good as they possibly can," Ryan said. "We have a great group, which takes bad news well and understands the rigors of racing. They celebrate their wins and love their horses and are protective of them. They also give back to the sport and the horses. They know we need to protect the horses. They reflect how you have to be a dreamer in this game and be optimistic but realistic as well."

The horses that have hit the ball out of the park have more than offset the swings and misses.

The first slugger was Eight Rings, who won the American Pharaoh Stakes (G1) last year and attracted a stud deal with Coolmore.

Charlatan was stripped of his grade 1 win at Oaklawn and is recovering from an ankle injury with an outside chance of being ready for the Preakness Stakes (G1) in October, but his breeding rights have already been sold to Hill 'n' Dale Farms.

The last horse they bought in 2018 was surely not the least of them. Authentic, a son of Into Mischief  bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, cost $350,000 when he was bought by SF Racing and Starlight West from the Bridie Harrison consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as Hip 2616. He's already earned $411,200 and much more could be coming Saturday if he lives up to his role as the favorite.

"He's a May foal and the last horse we bought on the eighth day of the sale. He jumped through the hoops for us and fortunately we landed him," Ryan said. "He's become a very good horse. He has great talent and I don't think we've come close to the bottom of this horse yet. I expect a big performance Saturday. We're finding out more about him all the time, but the one thing we're confident of is that he has grade 1 talent and hopefully he'll have his moment Saturday."

Authentic already has 100 qualifying points and is ensured a spot in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), so the 100-40-20-10 points available to Saturday's top four finishers have little meaning for him. What's more important is getting the San Felipe Stakes (G2) and Sham Stakes (G3) victor back on a winning track in advance of the Sept. 5 Run for the Roses. He faces six rivals that include Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) runner-up Dr Post and the grade 2-placed Ny Traffic.

"I think he's a really good horse. He had a little bad luck last time and he didn't get the trip we wanted and got tired and got beat by a really good horse (in Honor A.P.)," said Baffert, who will try to extend his record number of Haskell wins to nine. "He's coming in off a nice set of works and I love the way he's coming into the race. He couldn't be doing any better. He's trained really well since the Santa Anita Derby and I believe he'll run a big race. We'll see if he's good enough."

While Authentic tries to add to the laurels of the group's 3-year-olds, their 2-year-olds are getting ready to begin their careers with Baffert.

A total of 16 yearlings were bought in 2019, with Robert Masterson, who owned the champion grass filly Tepin, and Anthony Manganaro's Siena Farm joining the mix. This time, the prices ranged from $1 million to $120,000 at a total cost of about $9.1 million and an average of around $572,000.

Freedom Fighter, a son of Violence  bought for the aforementioned $120,000 price tag from the Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, was supposed to get the ball rolling in Saturday's second race at Del Mar, but that card was canceled after increased COVID-19 cases among jockeys and workers.

The roster of equine athletes has some interesting names, such as Bezos, Spielberg, Tarantino, and Money Mike, all of whom are breezing for Baffert, and rabid Boston sports fan Kumin will no doubt have a soft spot in his heart for Fenway.

Yet more than the names, it will be interesting to see if the second group can match the amazing results of their older stablemates.

"We feel very fortunate about what we've done. It will be hard and maybe impossible to replicate what the first set of horses has done but we'll try to do it. We have a beautiful group of 2-year-olds," said Ryan, who is currently preparing for the premiere of The Avengers Part III at the upcoming yearling sales.

So, while racing was paused in California, the show will go on in New Jersey with Authentic in the Haskell, and Kumin plans to be at Monmouth on a special day for his family.

"This will be the first time I've seen one of my horses run in person since the Breeders' Cup," said Kumin, whose total holdings in various partnerships number about 100 horses, including Uni, British Idiom and Midnight Bisou, who were champions last year. "Saturday is also my son Sam's ninth birthday and it would be nice to get a picture that day."

It certainly would. What 9-year-old wouldn't want a picture with The Avengers?