Spendthrift, MyRacehorse busy at sale after Authentic's Kentucky Derby win

Authentic’s victory in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby gave historic Spendthrift Farm its first classic victory under the ownership of B. Wayne Hughes and also delivered the thrill of victory to the partners in the micro-share ownership experience group MyRacehorse. Spendthrift and MyRacehorse, which both have displayed a similar innovative spirit, quickly turned around to look for their next star, buying three horses in partnership for a combined $850,000 at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase on Sept. 9-10 in Lexington, Ky.

“We will do this together, and try to do it all over again,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said.

California-based MyRacehorse.com, which treats investment horses as though they are registered securities, has often teamed with Spendthrift since its inception in 2018. Founder Michael Behrens said after the Derby that MyRacehorse had about 50 horses, with about half of those with Spendthrift.

“Wayne really took to the idea of being able to bring horse ownership to every man, literally every man and woman, any economic status ... anything,” Spendthrift president Eric Gustavson said of Hughes, who has incentivized breeding to his stallions and offered monetary rewards for doing so via various innovative programs. “There’s no limit because anyone, literally anyone, can buy in. And he loved that idea. He’s not only a businessman, but he’s just a real advocate for racing, and he wants to help racing grow. He really put his money where his mouth is.”

Authentic was a yearling purchase by SF Racing and Starlight Racing, with Fred Hertrich III, John D. Fielding, Golconda Stables, and Madaket Stables also joining the ownership group. Spendthrift then acquired the majority interest to campaign the colt alongside Starlight and Madaket, with SF, Hertrich, Fielding, and Golconda selling their respective interests. Spendthrift then offered My Racehorse the opportunity to join the group and sell shares to its members.

Hughes “told me, ‘The reason I do this is because the sport is better than the NFL. We just got to let people know,’ ” Behrens said. “So he wanted everybody to compete at the highest level. He wanted to do it in a way that had never been done before. We decided that we were going to go for big-time horses, we were going to offer extremely low minimums, and we were going to be fully transparent, and we’re going to give them the best possible experience. I can’t believe we accomplished it so quickly, but we did.”

The most expensive of Spendthrift and MyRacehorse’s purchases at Fasig-Tipton was, fittingly, a colt by Authentic’s sire, Spendthrift’s reigning leading stallion Into Mischief. The $450,000 colt is out of the Empire Maker mare Lost Empire, whose granddam is champion Queena.

“He’s a little cold, but we thought we’d take a chance anyways,” Toffey deadpanned regarding Into Mischief. “What’s left to say about Into Mischief, right? He’s done all the talking. We thought this was a really nice example of one. A big, scopey, rangy, athletic colt – we’re very happy to have him.”

Some of the other current and original partners in Authentic, who have a longer history of classic success with one another, also were active as the North American yearling sale season got under way. Starlight Racing and SF Bloodstock were among the partners in 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify – along with the Head of Plains Partners of Sol Kumin, who also is the principal of Madaket Stables. Starlight and SF began buying additional yearlings together later that year, with the intention of sending them to trainer Bob Baffert on the West Coast – leading, in fact, to the purchase of Authentic.

SF, Starlight, and Madaket purchased eight yearlings at Fasig-Tipton, with Donato Lanni as agent, for a combined $3.29 million. The most expensive of those were a pair of Into Mischief colts purchased for $800,000 and $570,000, respectively. The partnership continued straight on to the Keeneland September yearling sale, where it was the leading buyer by gross at the opening session, spending $4.17 million for eight yearlings. That group was led by a $775,000 colt by – who else? – Into Mischief.