One year after Justify, Wolf enjoying a different kind of Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jack and Laurie Wolf throw a party at their house here in Louisville every year on the night of the Kentucky Derby, but last year’s was far more celebratory than usual. Earlier in the day, Justify, a colt in whom their Starlight Racing partnership had a minority interest, had been draped in roses in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs.

Jack Wolf walked around his house that night in a bit of a daze, his cocktail of choice a mix of joy and disbelief and maybe something more potent, too. The lifelong racing fan, who grew up here and then ran a successful hedge fund in Atlanta before returning to his hometown, had been involved with a Derby winner.

It was a bit of luck and a healthy dose of shrewd investing that had brought Wolf to the Derby winner’s circle. The original owners of Justify had allowed Starlight and Sol Kumin to each purchase an interest in the colt during his racing career. There would be no windfall from the lucrative breeding rights that came Justify’s way following his win in the Triple Crown. But the association with Justify was the best advertising there could be for Starlight.

More people wanted in. Wolf – a likeable fellow with a hearty laugh who jokingly calls himself the “chief BS artist” but holds the title of chief executive and managing partner of Starlight – keeps the investors to anywhere from a dozen to 15 per horse. But interest was high last fall in joining forces with another of Justify’s original owners, SF Racing. That partnership purchased 24 yearlings who are now 2-year-olds, all headed to Justify’s trainer, Bob Baffert.

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So, perhaps Starlight was only a wingman for WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Racing during Justify’s brief, historic run, but the association with Justify is a gift that has kept on giving.

“The ideal thing is to breed a Derby winner,” Wolf said. “The next-best thing is to buy as a yearling or a weanling, or as a 2-year-old in training. The next-best thing after that is to buy in after the horse has already proven himself, like we did. And the next option is to have none of the above. It’s pretty cool to have been involved. And looking at that Kentucky Derby trophy, and the Preakness trophy, and the Belmont trophy, that’s pretty cool, too.

“I wish we had bred and owned him from the beginning. But does it suck? No.”

Starlight is back for this year’s Derby with two chances, one owned along the lines of Justify, one wholly owned by Starlight.

Improbable – second most recently in the Arkansas Derby for Baffert – had the same original ownership group as Justify, and that partnership again allowed Starlight in under the same terms as Justify, to share in racing-related profits only. Last year, Starlight got in on Audible on the same terms, too. He went on to finish third in the Derby and is still racing.

“We’ve done three deals with them, and they all look pretty good,” Wolf said.

Starlight also owns all of Cutting Humor, who won the Sunland Derby in his last start. Cutting Humor was purchased by Starlight as a yearling and is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has been Starlight’s primary trainer for more than 15 years.

“We’ve got a couple of live horses,” Wolf said.

Wolf began Starlight in 2000, purchasing six yearlings, one of whom turned out to be Harlan’s Holiday, who went on to be favored in the 2002 Kentucky Derby and finished seventh.

In the years since, Starlight has significantly grown. Starlight has 32 2-year-olds – spread among Baffert, Pletcher, and Al Stall Jr. – as well as 10 3-year-olds and several older runners. Laurie Wolf has formed the StarLadies partnership, which is for female owners only and buys only fillies. StarLadies also has runners in training ages 2 through 4.

The Wolfs also have become heavily involved in Thoroughbred aftercare and programs for backstretch employees. They helped launch the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and Jack Wolf is a past board member of the Thoroughbred Charities of America. Both are past board members of the Race for Education, and Laurie Wolf is on the board of the Backstretch Learning Center at Churchill Downs.

Derby Day will dawn differently from last year, Jack Wolf said. He’ll wake up less certain of victory.

“I wasn’t nervous at all last year,” he said. “I knew we had the best horse. Between Bob’s confidence and [Mike Smith’s] confidence and the other trainers saying they couldn’t beat us, I figured we were going to win. This year is entirely different.”

But Derby Night will be the same in that win or lose, there will be a party at the Wolfs’ house. There will be something to celebrate, even if the Derby doesn’t go to Improbable or Cutting Humor. On Saturday, Jack Wolf turns 70. A Derby win, though, would make for an especially happy birthday bash.