Owners enjoying the ride with Exaggerator

As far as the ownership team behind Preakness winner and Belmont Stakes favorite Exaggerator is concerned, it’s a case of the more, the merrier.

Exaggerator was purchased by Matt Bryan’s Big Chief Racing in partnership with trainer Keith Desormeaux, whose brother, Kent, is his regular rider. The ownership team was swiftly joined by the Rocker O Ranch of Ron Ortowski’s family; he and Bryan, both Texas businessmen, are longtime friends. And other Texas connections helped secure the colt’s future as a Kentucky stallion. Finally, they were joined by the Head of Plains Partners of Sol Kumin, one of the top new owners in the game.

It’s amazing “for a bunch of guys from Texas and one Boston guy [Kumin] down here – we had to put one Yankee in this organization, bunch of Southern boys,” Bryan said with a laugh following the Preakness.

Bryan, a Texas resident who works as chief executive of his family’s M.G. Bryan Equipment Co., decided to pursue Thoroughbred racing, a sport he had an avid interest in growing up, slightly more than four years ago. After dabbling in ownership through another syndicate, he met Keith Desormeaux while on a reconnaissance mission at the Fasig-Tipton Texas 2-year-old sale, and the two quickly struck up a friendship that led to several early successes for Bryan’s Big Chief Racing.

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales

The first horse Desormeaux purchased for Bryan was Ive Struck a Nerve. The $82,000 juvenile purchase went on to spring a $272.40 upset in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes in 2013. Their other early successes included stakes winners Miss Machiavelli, a $20,000 yearling, and La Grange, a $17,000 yearling.

Ortowski, a longtime friend of Bryan’s, took a keen interest in his friend’s new business venture, especially since he had an equestrian background. The Texas native grew up on a ranch and worked on a horse farm after his time in the Army. He later founded Pumpco, and he and his sons, Cody and Cole, own and run ORTEQ Energy Technologies. And now, the family is the team behind Rocker O Ranch.

“Ronnie came along and said, ‘I want to buy into some horses. You’ve had some good luck,’ ” Bryan recalled. “He’s a good friend of mine and customer, and so I go back up to his office and say, ‘Hey, we bought these 10 yearlings right here, which ones do you want?’ [He responds], ‘Hell, I’m 65 years old; I want half of all of them.’ And I said, ‘Well, okay, but Keith’s going to own some of them too.’ ”

One of those yearlings was Exaggerator. Bred by Joseph B. Murphy in Kentucky, the son of Curlin was a $110,000 purchase at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale, by far the most expensive horse Bryan had ever bought. Desormeaux felt it was more than worth it.

“I spotted him in the back ring and immediately was attracted to him,” Desormeaux said. “Very correct in his conformation, up front and behind. A very good walker; catlike walk with a good coverage of ground and efficiency. His balance; it’s so important, the balance of the placement of his neck, and angle of his shoulder, and length of his back and through his hind end, balance is so important to efficiency. And intelligent eyes. He had it all physically. Then you go to pedigree. He’s by a sire that I always loved, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a Curlin.”

Later in the sale, Desormeaux put another feather in his cap as a judge of bloodstock – and another outstanding runner in the Big Chief family – when he selected Swipe for just $5,000. The Birdstone colt, whom Bryan campaigns in partnership with James Justice and Billy Shelton, is a minor stakes winner with a trio of Grade 1 placings, including a runner-up effort to Nyquist in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“We’re blessed to have Keith Desormeaux picking out these horses,” Bryan said. “It starts with Keith Desormeaux. The ride is by Kent Desormeaux, but I’m going to tell you right now, Keith Desormeaux . . . we’ll put him in the Hall of Fame if I have anything to do with it.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, the [Desormeaux] boys right here are awesome,” Bryan added. “They’re raised by a good momma and daddy, so that’s the first thing. But the one thing that I will say that I’m probably the proudest of is to win [the Preakness] with these two, and them to win it, it’s amazingly special for us as owners.”

The newest member of Exaggerator’s ontrack ownership team is, fittingly, the newest to the sport. Kumin, who purchased his first horse slightly more than two years ago, landed a “sizable” share in Exaggerator via his Head of Plains Partners shortly before the colt’s 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes in February.

“So, Keith’s a part owner of Exaggerator, I’m an owner of Exaggerator, Ronnie is an owner of Exaggerator, and Sol is an owner of Exaggerator,” Bryan said. “Sol came in later this year. We run this like a business. We’re very fortunate. But we’re not a bunch of billionaires just throwing a bunch of money around. But we’re sure proud of where we are and grateful. That’s how we got started.”

Kumin, the chief executive of a Wall Street hedge fund, first came into the game when he established Sheep Pond Partners with real-estate developer Jay Hanley. One of the first horses they bought was the unbeaten turf filly Lady Eli, named for Kumin’s wife. Kumin has since branched out to found Head of Plains Partners as well as Beacon Hill Partners, Great Point Stables, Madaket Stables, and Nantucket Thoroughbred Partners. His interests sometimes purchase at auction, but Kumin more predominantly buys into proven stock on the racetrack. His ownership interests include Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue, Royal Ascot winner Undrafted, and Grade 1-placed My Man Sam, who started in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

For his early success, OwnerView named Kumin its 2015 New Owner of the Year.

“I feel extremely lucky to have been introduced to horse racing at this stage in my life,” Kumin said. “In a short period of time, I have been fortunate enough to win some races and form some incredible friendships that I know I will have for many years to come.”

While Big Chief Racing, Rocker O Ranch, Head of Plains, and Desormeaux will be the names listed on the Belmont program, there’s another major outfit with a strong rooting interest in Exaggerator, as WinStar Farm secured his future stallion rights following his Santa Anita Derby victory. The deal was helped along by some of Bryan and Ortowski’s mutual acquaintances, as WinStar owner Kenny Troutt resides in Texas.

After all, this is a group that has always found room for more people on the bandwagon.