NBC's Kornacki Enjoying Thrill of Horse Ownership

If there is a major race—whether political or involving Thoroughbreds—Steve Kornacki might be covering it with his analytical style of tracking percentages and probabilities. The national political correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, he also contributes to NBC's coverage of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1).

But he also has some skin in the horse racing game with a stake in two horses raced by the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership, one of which is the graded stakes-winning sprinter Gal in a Rush . A winner of four of 16 starts and $391,723 for West Point Thoroughbreds, Chris Larsen, and Titletown Racing Stables, the filly most recently scored in the July 6 Hendrie Stakes (G3) at Woodbine. She swooped past the field in the final furlong to notch her first stakes victory in the 6 1/2-furlong race.

"Just everything came together in about 15 seconds there. It is an amazing thrill," Kornacki said.

Watch: NBC's Kornacki on Being a Part Owner in Gal in a Rush

On Aug. 24, she goes for a second stakes win at the Canadian track when she leads an 11-horse field in the CA$135,000 Seaway Stakes (G3) over seven furlongs on Tapeta.

The Seaway will likely not be the only race Kornacki is watching Saturday. An enthusiastic horseplayer and an Eclipse Award voter via his membership in the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, he sees the Travers Stakes (G1) as likely to have championship implications within the 3-year-old male division.

"This is a race I think is going to really kind of establish a clear pecking order as we get down to the final months," Kornacki said the day after he and other political reporters wrapped up their coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

As for his involvement in horse ownership, Kornacki said his experience with West Point Thoroughbreds began the winter before Gal in a Rush debuted in July 2021—around the time that racing fans were getting to know him when he joined NBC's Derby and Preakness coverage.

He said he had been drawn to horse ownership but wanted to avoid some of the financial risks of owning a horse alone or a significant portion of one. A partnership gave him a chance to "get the experience at a price point that's a little bit more accessible" and allowed him to learn as a first-time horse owner.

"I bought into two, a colt and a filly. And I kind of figured, look, if one of them can have a fun, interesting career, this will have been more than worth it, and that's exactly what happened," he said. "The colt didn't do too much, but the filly certainly has."

Gal in a Rush's racing journey has not been without any bumps in the road. Inclement weather and injury have impacted her racing schedule. She was scratched at the gate shortly before the start of the $900,000 Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs last year and did not reappear until this May when second in the License Fee Stakes. 

Between that start and the Hendrie, she ran fourth in the July 7 Intercontinental Stakes (G2T) during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. Kornacki, a New York resident, was in attendance.

Is this @SteveKornacki’s boldest prediction of the year?

This isn’t an election call. He has his pick in a horse race - The @BelmontStakes!

He’s a hardcore racing fan and owns horses with @Westpointtbred. Watch what happened when we caught up with him today at #Saratoga. pic.twitter.com/Hy6Z8lMlII

— America'sBestRacing (@ABRLive) June 7, 2024

Kornacki, whose goal in his political coverage is to make numbers digestible to a television audience, believes that information is one of the draws of horse racing. 

Asked how he felt racing might grow and become more understandable to a broader audience, he replied: "My easy, simple answer is get the past performances to people. Just do it for free. Hand it to them. I mean, there's just obviously so much there. And I think once you start to see it, and start to understand the challenge, your mind just starts to gravitate towards all the different angles you might find."