Connolly on 'Moneyball' Racing Operation, Derby Dreams

As a smaller owner you set lofty dreams of getting to the first Saturday in May with a special horse at some point in your tumultuous efforts of owning racehorses. Few get the opportunity to get there more than once. Atlanta, Ga., native Larry Connolly is looking down the road with his recent Remsen Stakes (G2) winner and after a few more imperative stops, he hopes to arrive at the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) with Dubyuhnell. The juvenile colt, which races under the West Paces Racing name and partner/breeder Stonestreet Stables, pays homage to Connolly's alma mater of Washington and Lee University. When said with a southern drawl, it sounds like W-N-L. Connolly, now retired after selling Connolly LLC, the largest global-recovery auditing firm, took the time to speak with BloodHorse MarketWatch to learn a little more about West Paces Racing. MarketWatch: How did you get involved in the Thoroughbred Industry? Larry Connolly: A good friend of mine (Lawrence Kenny) in Atlanta, once upon a time, quit high school, much to his parent's chagrin, to try and be a steeplechase jockey in Great Britain. After five years, he realized it wasn't meant to be, but his passion for the horse never relented. (He) remained an enormous steeplechase enthusiast since moving to America. We became good friends, and he talked me into going to the Cheltenham Festival. For the next five years, that's what we did; one time, we were in a pub and joking about pulling our resources to buy a horse to run at Cheltenham. That is how the initial twinkle in the eye began. Fast forward to 2012, and we sold our company (Connolly LLC and later rebranded as Cotiviti LLC), and now I have some resources to be an idiot (Connolly joked) and buy a horse. In 2013 we made a guy's trip to Saratoga Race Course for the Travers Stakes (G1), where Keith Mason (partner in West Paces Racing) and I both said we have the sun, moon, and stars in alignment to join a syndicate. Keith knew Jerry Crawford, CEO of Donegal Racing, from his former life in politics, so I followed Keith into the partnership on Keen Ice. We did that for several years; I'm still a member of Donegal and have since joined Starlight Racing, which got me in on the action of Authentic, which was great fun. Along the way, as a member of Donegal, we started following Conor Foley and Jim Hatchett of Oracle Bloodstock and some other folks around as they did their horse inspections ahead of the sales. After five years of doing that, Keith and I started talking about getting a bunch of our golf buddies here in Atlanta together and forming a syndicate. With some encouragement, in 2019, we began West Paces Racing. We bought a total of eight horses, some of which we (Mason and Connelly) own 100%, but the majority are in partnerships. The name West Paces comes from where we live in Atlanta and the road that our golf club, Cherokee Town and Country Club is on, West Paces Ferry. The majority of our syndicate members are members of Cherokee. MW: Tell us a little more about Dubyuhnell (Good Magic—Wild Gams), who you own in partnership with his breeder Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, and his first stakes win Dec. 3 in the Remsen at Aqueduct Racetrack with trainer Danny Gargan. LC: It's super exciting. We bought the horse at the Keeneland September Sale last year, and I remember both Conor and Jim were super excited about him; they really liked the horse. We are a moneyball outfit, and he was on the higher end (at $400,000) of where we would go, but they really believed in the horse. It was also comforting that Barbara (Banke) wanted to stay in for a leg, she's a great partner, and it was a big vote of confidence. Danny has always felt positive on the horse, everyone is optimistic about yearlings and 2-year-olds, but you can tell trainers try to tone it down, so you don't get too excited. However, we thought this horse had the potential to be special early on, but everyone thinks their horse is special, so we weren't over our skis in anticipation. All the reports were positive for his first race (Sept. 3 at Saratoga), he didn't have a particularly good trip, but he never quit. He finished fourth to Instant Coffee (recent winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, G2, Nov. 26). On his next time out, I thought his performance was particularly impressive. The chestnut went out Oct. 2 in a one-mile maiden test, originally scheduled for the turf at Belmont at the Big A, winning impressively by 2 1/2 lengths over eight other juveniles. When the horse won (Dec. 3), I happened to be in Capital City for the SEC Championship, and Dan Pride (COO of Godolphin), a UGA alum, was in town to see his son, so we watched the race together from our iPhones before the game started. Everyone else thought the SEC Championship was the most important thing that day, but we sure didn't. It was lots of fun watching with Dan because he gets it. Part of being a general partner on a syndicate is telling it how it is and being a bit of a cheerleader. I had sent out my pre-race analysis to all the partners and forwarded it to a bunch of my former Washington and Lee Alum, saying I think we have a chance. I started to think maybe I was hyping the horse up too much. All Saturday, in addition to being nervous, I was worried I had oversold the horse. Dubyuhnell got the perfect trip, which doesn't always happen—I wasn't prepared for us to actually win. I couldn't believe the elation and intensity of happiness that occurred; I have been on cloud nine since. The next few months will be very exciting, and there is a lot of work to get done; if Dubyuhnell stays healthy, it could be interesting. I am so happy for our partners that, in all likelihood, we will have an exciting next few months. It's going to be over-the-top fun. I am taking it one day at a time, but it will be a great ride. MW: How many horses are in your racing stable? LC: In the West Paces Racing Stable, including 12 yearlings, we have about 28 horses (excluding Donegal and Starlight Racing). Those are spread out over four different classes, and we are about to sell one of the mares. We usually partner with one or more people on each of these horses. MW: What is the goal of West Paces Racing? LC: I have a couple of goals, first and foremost, I want to introduce the sport to people in Atlanta. We give a significant discount to buy in if you are under 40 years old, which helps to promote the sport with younger people. We are a moneyball outfit; with Conor and Jim's help, we try to find the best available athlete we can buy. Male or female, we look at pedigree last and conformation first. Conor has a pretty good eye, as does Jim… mostly, we are outbid. I have developed a friendship with Conor and Jim over all these years, and I like them, trust them, and they haven't disappointed me. MW: You put a lot of faith in Oracle Bloodstock and it sounds like it's working for West Paces Racing. LC: His system gets a lot of eyeballs on each horse. Getting enough eyes with proper horsemen can normally flush out the potentially flawed horses. He works with Danny, Tom Morley, Ray Handal, and sometimes Dan Blacker. He has Scotty Everett and Nick Esler shortlisting at every sale. I think our stable is doing well; it's a challenging game. We are excited about a number of our other 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds doing well. It's been very enjoyable, and we figured we would have a live one every three, four, or five years. After our third year, we have Dubyuhnell, and he's not the only one we are excited about. MW: What is the best advice you have been given in business or horses? LC: Surround yourself with good people. That would include both intellect and character; after that, things seem to take care of themselves.