Meet Equestricon Co-Founder Justin Nicholson

Owner-breeder Justin Nicholson co-founded Ninety North Racing Stable in 2011 and manages racing-breeding operations in the U.S. under his A J Suited Racing Stable. Nicholson, along with his wife, Kathryn Sharp, and Dan Tordjman co-founded Equestricon, the first horse racing/lifestyle event designed to celebrate the sport of racing with fans.

What I do for a living: I work in my family's real estate investment and management business, own-breed racehorses, and work on planning Equestricon, horse racing's biggest convention and fan festival!

What I like about Thoroughbred racing: I always wanted to be the general manager of a major league sports team growing up, and considering those jobs are awfully tough to come by, running a racing-breeding operation is about as close as I can get. There are a lot of similarities, though, like building a roster, determining how much to pay for each athlete, developing and training them properly to maximize their abilities, and constantly assessing their roles on your team. There's no greater thrill than when the decisions you make along the way lead to a big win, especially with a horse you've bred and managed for years!

If I wasn't in my current job, I would be a: Well, I guess I jumped the gun on this answer but probably a professional sports general manager. I'm a huge sports fan, football and hockey especially, and can only imagine what it would be like to sit in a draft war room and decide which players to pick to establish the foundation of a franchise for years to come.

Best advice to someone considering becoming a Thoroughbred owner: I could write an essay on this one, but I'll try to give three quick notes to boil it all down. 1. Try to find a team you can trust—the people who will advise you will have a huge impact on your experience. 2. If possible, consider starting your ownership experience in a partnership with friends or in a public syndicate so you don't take on 100% of the risk. 3. This one's a little broader, but prepare for ups and downs. Winning a race is a pretty amazing feeling, at any level, but there's often a lot of down time in between, whether because horses are actually injured and out of training, or just because even when they're fit they're only running once every few weeks. If you want to get the most out of ownership, try to visit your horse in the morning and watch training, pay attention to the finances and learn where your money is going, ask questions of the trainer and learn what you can. You can get a lot out of ownership, even on the many days that your horse isn't actually running.

Should the Breeders' Cup rotate from coast to coast or have a permanent home: I'm good with moving around and giving different parts of the country a chance to see the best horses around.

Three favorite racetracks in order: Saratoga, Keeneland, Gulfstream

Most influential person in my career: My dad, Ronald Nicholson, who taught me a lot about both real estate and racing, and got me started in both.

My out-of-the-box idea for Thoroughbred racing: Plenty of answers I could give here too, but an easier one might be emphasizing distance racing again. Breeders breed to the races that are available and we've prioritized speed so much in our condition books, it's hard to find classic pedigrees anymore. Distance races are more fun to watch and horses that excel at longer distances often tend to be more sturdily built. I'd love to see mile-and-a-quarter dirt allowance races on the regular.

Other sports/teams I follow: Football - New York Giants; Hockey - New York Rangers; Baseball - New York Yankees; and golf a decent bit.

My favorite athletes of all time: Mark Messier and Eli Manning—the leaders of the Stanley Cup/Super Bowl wins my teams have had in recent memory.

What book(s) I am reading or have recently read: I'm a big podcast guy, so recently I've listened to "American Fiasco," "Up and Vanished," and now working through "Slow Burn."

Favorite magazines: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Economist

Hobbies away from Thoroughbred racing: Golf, poker, travel

Favorite movies: "L.A. Confidential," "Memento" (on my mind because I just saw it again this week), pretty much any Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielsen comedy.

Favorite TV shows: "The Simpsons" (somehow still pretty funny!), "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," and a lot of the Netflix crime documentary series

Favorite foods: Go-to is always a cheeseburger and fries, but more exotically, Mexican and Indian food. I make a mean Butter Chicken.

Favorite vacation spot: Went on a golf trip to Scotland in 2017 and going back again in 2019. Can't wait for the second go-around!

Favorite musician/band: I go through phases, but considering I've listened to them a lot lately and they're playing our Equestricon concert, I'm going Jukebox the Ghost, right now.

Favorite actor: Borrowing from my earlier answer, let's say Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielsen.

Five websites I visit daily: espn.com, paulickreport.com, realclearpolitics.com, twitter.com, facebook.com

I'd like to have dinner with the following three people inside racing: It's corny, but nothing beats an EQCon team dinner with Katie, Dan Tordjman, and Dan Montesano.