Over the course of the previous couple of years, Sol Kumin and his companions have owned shares of a regal assortment of Thoroughbreds.
Triple Crown winner Justify , 2020 Horse of the Year Authentic , two-time champion Monomoy Girl , and Eclipse Award winners such as Whitmore, Lady Eli, Midnight Bisou, Uni, and British Idiom, to name a few, are among several hundred horses attached to one of Kumin’s ownership groups who share a common bond.
They are all retired.
Losing that much horsepower in the not-so-distant past would seem a devastating blow, but Kumin has taken it all in stride and continues to find ways to attack ownership with the same gusto he employed a few decades ago as an attackman for the Johns Hopkins lacrosse team.
As the Breeders’ Cup approaches, even with saying goodbye to all of those stars, Kumin still has a share of eight starters (and Beer Can Man on the also-eligible list for the Turf Sprint, G1T) at the World Championships and with two months left in the year, he has 45 stakes wins, 21 of them graded. Since Labor Day, he’s been on a tear with 16 stakes wins.
Not unhealthy for what formed up as a rebuilding yr.
“We had 5 – 6 horses-of-a-lifetime over the previous couple of years and this regarded like a rebuilding yr,” mentioned Kumin, a 46-year-old resident of Boston. “However it’s been a sneaky good yr. Yearly we preserve bobbing and weaving and issues preserve popping up.”
In January, Kumin introduced in John Panagot as his racing supervisor and Panagot, together with assist from Amanda Motz, have teamed with Kumin to maintain including to the steady’s win totals.
“I like working with John,” Kumin mentioned. “We additionally introduced in Amanda and he or she focuses on the breeding aspect, accidents, layups, the place to ship yearlings. John manages the whole lot. He picks the spots for our horses, makes acquisitions, and arranges gross sales when we have to. John may be very low key. He is simple to take care of and has labored successfully with lots of people within the trade. They’ve finished a unbelievable job.”
Operating primarily underneath the Madaket Stables’ banner in partnerships with separate possession teams, Kumin has been part of 133 wins by means of Nov. 3.
Eight Rings gallops Nov. 3 at Del Mar
“There’s all the time loads of motion with Sol,” mentioned Panagot, who additionally works because the racing supervisor for Bob LaPenta, who has been a separate co-owner with Kumin on Whitmore, Uni, and Runhappy Travers Stakes Introduced by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Catholic Boy , among others. “With Madaket you have to watch TVG on Tuesdays.”
You also have to watch the NBC family of networks Nov. 5-6 to keep tabs on the hedge fund manager’s Breeders’ Cup horses. Madaket, a partnership headed by Kumin that also includes New York Mets owner and his former boss Steve Cohen, has eight likely starters at the two-day Del Mar occasion.
That steady of runners, one in all whom might push his variety of Breeders’ Cup wins from 9 to 10, consists of: Helens Well in the Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), Pinehurst and Barossa in the TVG Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1), Mackinnon in the Juvenile Turf (G1T), Eight Rings in the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (G1), C Z Rocket in the Qatar Racing Sprint (G1), and Tribhuvan and Rockemperor in the Longines Turf (G1T).
Eight Rings is named for New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who was Kumin’s guest at the 2018 Preakness Stakes (G1) for Justify’s victory.
“Things are working out well,” Kumin said. “It’s going to be a fun Breeders’ Cup.”
While Kumin still partners with Michael Dubb and Mike Caruso and is still part of “The Avengers” yearling partnership group with SF Racing and Starlight Racing (which brought him Authentic as well as Pinehurst and Barossa from the Breeders’ Cup horses), he has also expanded his network of associates to including teaming more often with LaPenta and starting new coupled entries with Bob Edwards of e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Erik Johnson, Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Little Red Feather Racing.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Sol Kumin cheers British Idiom on to victory in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park
“We went in a different direction to find new partners,” said Kumin, who is also standing the surprisingly successful stallion Slumber in New York and celebrated his first homebred graded stakes winner this year with Fluffy Socks .
It’s that variety of partners and the mix of buying yearlings and experienced horses both here in the United States and overseas that Panagot views as a key to Kumin’s quick rise to prominence since his entrance into the sport in 2014.
“The big races are the goals but the day-to-day races are also important to keep us going,” Panagot said.
For Panagot, working with LaPenta and Kumin has been smooth because the two owners are friends and own horses together and he has developed a good rapport with both of them.
He’s off to a quick start with Kumin that bodes well for a successful tenure together.
“Bob and Sol are the kind of people you want to do well for. Bob has been a father figure to me,” Panagot said. “Sol is a good delegator. He has good instincts and can handicap people in situations. The way he has acquired a ton of knowledge about watching races and speed figures, it’s really impressive. He never shuts it off. If we had three more Sol’s spread across the country, it would be great for the business and everyone would be doing better. He’s brought so many good people into the game. The rolodex of people who hang out with him at the races is incredible and is so important for the longevity of the sport. Given his age, he could be doing this for another 30 years, which would be a huge boost for the sport.”
