It all started in 2013 with a $50,000 investment in a nine-person partnership.
From that pool of money, none of the group's horses won above the allowance level.
That was Sol Kumin's rather humble introduction to Thoroughbred racing.
Inauspicious? For sure.
Yet it was also the spark that fueled the kind of success that seems too lofty to believe.
Just 12 years later, Kumin stands on the verge of a mind-boggling milestone.
Kumin has owned a share of 52 horses who have compiled a staggering 97 grade 1 wins, leaving him just three shy of racking up No. 100, a figure only the most elite of stables ever reach.
To put that number in the proper perspective, the world's premier stable, Godolphin, the Eclipse Award-winning owner the last five years, had 10 grade 1 North American victories last year. But the owners who were second and third on the 2024 leading owners list by earnings had a combined seven, with four for Klaravich Stables and three for Juddmonte, respectively.
Kumin had nine grade 1 wins in 2024—along with three champions—and has averaged eight grade 1 victories per year since buying his first horse, numbers that seem unprecedented in such a short period of time for someone who was new to the sport a dozen years ago.
"I never even thought about getting to 100 until six months ago," said the 49-year-old Kumin, co-president of Leucadia Asset Management. "Over the years you remember the good ones and fortunately there have been a lot of them. In this sport, you always need a focus and have to be willing to look around the corner for the next great one. Every great horse we've owned has a story behind it of how we acquired it. It is incredible that we are approaching 100 grade 1 wins, but I can also say we bought a lot of slow horses, too."
In a sport where losing 75% of the time would be considered highly successful, Kumin has managed to build a winning formula that has far exceeded typical expectations with those 52 different grade 1 winners. Under several different stable names over the years, Kumin has entered into a vast array of partnerships with more than 100 different owners to enjoy unparalleled success in a little more than a decade.
He has enjoyed tremendous success with private purchases such as Midnight Bisou and Whitmore, along with yearling buys like Monomoy Girl and Authentic , and his homebreds, Fluffy Socks and Jimmy P.
Consider that he owned a share of the horse that achieved the sport's Holy Grail, Justify , who became the 13th Triple Crown winner. All told, Kumin has been a part of two Kentucky Derby (G1) wins, three Preakness Stakes (G1) triumphs, and 12 Breeders' Cup victories. He has celebrated wins at Royal Ascot and in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1). He won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby on the same weekend in 2018, the first time that happened since 1952. He even won a grade 1 steeplechase race with his homebred, Jimmy P.
And with three more grade 1 wins, he'll have a seemingly unfathomable 100 of them.
"If you ask me if I am surprised about Sol reaching 100 wins, I would say yes and no. Given the challenging nature of the horse racing business, it's a surprise. Especially for someone who came into the sport with no real knowledge of it," said Chad Brown, Kumin's first trainer, who has accounted for 27 of those grade 1 wins. "But when you consider the passion Sol developed for the sport, it's not. He's a driven man when he wants to do something and has a passion for it. He's a high-energy, glass-half-full, positive person who has found a way to be a successful businessman, a devoted husband and father, and run a large stable very effectively. He has the necessary energy and big picture understanding of the sport, which has allowed him to approach and ultimately pass 100 wins."
As much as Kumin's stable of about 150 horses includes horses acquired in a variety of ways, the one constant for the Massachusetts resident has been partners.
Through the course of the 97 grade 1 wins, Kumin has always had partners, be they in his group or fellow owners who join forces with his Madaket Stables. Whenever Madaket Stables appears in a racing program, you can expect to see anywhere from one to nine other owners associated with the horse. Yet as much as partners can ease the financial burden of horse ownership, that's not the reason why Kumin loves company at the races.
Aside from owning a highly profitable hedge fund, Kumin has three partners in Madaket Stables who give the group the kind of financial wherewithal to easily own 100% of their horses in training. Steve Cohen, Kumin's former boss, is a billionaire who owns the New York Mets baseball team and gave Juan Soto a $765 million contract. Jim Pallotta was a co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics and Jim Carey is a co-CEO of Stone Point Capital.
For Kumin, racing offers the excitement and competition he thrives on and the opportunity to share it with friends or new acquaintances, which underscores his willingness to buy only a share of an experienced runner as opposed to seeking the complete 100% stake.
"It's more fun to experience racing with partners," Kumin said. "I love getting on the phone with my partners and talking about the horses. My partners are my good friends, and I love talking with them and doing things with them. I wouldn't want to do things by myself. Who would I talk with? I need my partners for my sanity."
That willingness to buy into experienced horses and take just a 25% share while keeping the original owner and trainer in place explains why the Johns Hopkins grad and board member has been able to secure a share of so many horses over the years and has won grade 1 stakes with 23 different trainers.
"Sol does not advocate for moving horses. They stay where they are," Brown said. "He's not one to rock the boat or yank horses from people, and that's admirable."
It was Jay Hanley who introduced Kumin to Thoroughbred racing and saw how Kumin's passion for the sport gushed like a Texas oil well.
Hanley, a contractor in Nantucket who owned some horses stabled with Brown, met Kumin while working on Kumin's home. They became friends and Kumin was enthralled with Hanley's tales about the euphoric thrill of winning a race at Saratoga Race Course.
That led to Kumin investing in Nantucket Thoroughbred Partners and then a splinter group Hanley formed named Sheep Pond Partners. When their initial purchase of three Sheep Pond horses trained by Brown included three Breeders' Cup starters and a Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) winner in Lady Eli, Kumin fell in love with racing and the Drive for 100 was underway.
"When you get someone involved and one of your first experiences is winning a Breeders' Cup race, it makes it easy to go on and on," Hanley said. "Sol loves to have a good time, he's very competitive, and he felt it was something that worked for his lifestyle and family. Sol is a very strategic guy. He's lucky, but he's intelligent. He's found a path to success in racing, and that's what Sol does in everything he does.
"Sol loves to be social and interactive and to share in his success with fellow owners and trainers."
Lady Eli (named after his wife, Elizabeth) gave Kumin a master's degree in the emotions of racing, as after her 2014 Breeders' Cup success at 2, she contracted laminitis at 3, and there were fears she would not survive. Through the tireless work of veterinarians and Brown and his staff, including Cherie DeVaux, who was an assistant trainer at the time, Lady Eli heroically survived and returned to top form. She went on to win three more grade 1 stakes and was named the champion turf female in 2017 to complete a heartwarming tale.
"If not for Lady Eli, I probably would not be in the sport. That's what got me hooked. It was the whole journey with her and getting to know the horse's personality, which is something you don't get to see when you just show up for the races," Kumin said. "But when you are going to the barn after work to watch her with her legs in ice buckets, and then you watch her come back to the races and win grade 1 races, that was amazing. It was a low point, but it's hard to call it a low because that's where a lot of my passion comes from."
Though Sheep Pond also campaigned Arlington Million (G1T) winner Beach Patrol, in a few years Kumin was ready to jump into racing in a big way. He bought a home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and his family, which includes two sons and a daughter, would spend the morning traveling the backstretch to see their horses. Just a few years ago, partnering with some friends, he built a clubhouse across the street from the racetrack.
On the racing front, under a few stable names like Head of Plains Partners and Monomoy Stables, Kumin began working with bloodstock advisers Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow and struck gold with a number of private purchases. One of them was Uni, who won the 2019 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) and was crowned the champion turf female.
Working with Weisbord and Crow, he also formed the group that bought two-time Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) winner Monomoy Girl for $100,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She won 14 of 17 starts, earned $4.7 million, and captured two Eclipse Awards for trainer Brad Cox, who has notched 13 grade 1 wins for Kumin.
Now he races primarily under the Madaket Stables banner with John Panagot as his racing manager.
His most successful recent venture was joining with SF Racing's Tom Ryan and Starlight Racing's Jack Wolf to team with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and bloodstock agents such as Donato Lanni to purchase about two dozen yearling colts a year. Famously known as "The Avengers," the venture has produced Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Authentic and the reigning 2-year-old champ Citizen Bull. The group, which has expanded to have six or seven other partners, could have two Kentucky Derby starters in Wood Memorial (G2) winner Rodriguez and Citizen Bull, with a third possible starter, Madaket Road, needing one defection to be included in the field of 20.
In separate partnerships, Kumin also has two Kentucky Oaks (G1) starters in Bless the Broken and Fondly.
"Sol has been a great partner of ours for a long time. He brings a lot of energy to the table. He's a very good partner in that he takes bad news well, even though he relishes good news. He allows us to do our job and is a fun guy to have around," said Ryan, the managing partner of The Avengers group. "He's clearly a lucky guy and has a great energy and appetite for the sport. What more could you want in a partner? He will let you run with the ball when you explain yourself. He has great instincts, and I enjoy the heck out of him."
Wolf said of Kumin, "We've never had a disagreement. You can't find a better guy to get along with than Sol."
The success of The Avengers group can be seen in the 18 grade 1 wins Baffert has racked up for Kumin.
"Sol has what all the great owners have, a tremendous passion for the sport. He loves horses, loves the sport and the social aspect. Each year, he'll send gifts to the stable help," Baffert said. "He is in tune with the business and knows every trainer and every jockey and their agent. He really studies the game and is a student of it. Sol is what the sport is supposed to be about."
Yet for all of the wins in major races, Kumin has yet to receive an Eclipse Award as the outstanding owner. Even in 2018, when Justify swept to Triple Crown glory, the award went to Hronis Racing.
A key reason for the snub involves the sport's archaic stats keeping. Instead of listing all of Madaket's wins and earnings, there are separate listings for each of Kumin's partnerships, which can be several dozen in a year. In the stat package sent to Eclipse voters, it showed two separate lists for Madaket's partnerships: one with three grade 1 wins, the other with two, hardly a fair representation of Kumin's horses achieved during the year.
Others are critical because Kumin only races in partnerships, which irks Ryan.
"People say Sol has 5%, 10%, 25% of a horse. It doesn't matter. People like Sol have ownership in a Thoroughbred, and they used good sense to put themselves in that position," Ryan said. "So the reality is, if you own 5% or 50%, you have ownership. You're paying insurance. You're paying jockey fees. You're paying feed bills. You are paying your freight all the way along. I fully support people getting credit for it."
Kumin said he has learned to look past any criticism of his methods.
"The smallest share we have is a quarter of the horse, but haters will be haters," he said. "Once you are successful, people want to find something to take a shot. I don't let it bother me, but it's funny how people always try to find something to gripe about."
Much more revealing is that there are no gripes from Kumin's partners. They have been part of a fabulous ride that has 100 grade 1 wins within sight and have enjoyed a ton of fun along the way.
"Sol has brought a culture of winning to the sport, and he has treated people very well. The sport should be thankful for him and what he brings to it," Hanley said. "He's a guy who has come in, taken a chance, rallied people around him. He has spent a lot of money and wants to have fun watching these magnificent animals. The sport would truly benefit from having more people like Sol."
| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Year | Race |
| Lady Eli | Chad Brown | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 2014 | BC Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Lady Eli | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2015 | Belmont Oaks |
| Sharla Rae | Doug O'Neill | James Graham | 2015 | Del Mar Oaks |
| Slumber | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2015 | Manhattan |
| Undrafted | Wesley Ward | Frankie Dettori | 2015 | Diamond Jubilee |
| Wavell Avenue | Brown | Joel Rosario | 2015 | BC Filly & Mare Sprint |
| Beach Patrol | Brown | Florent Geroux | 2016 | Secretariat |
| Dacita | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2016 | Diana |
| Decked Out | Keith Desormeaux | Kent Desormeaux | 2016 | American Oaks |
| Exaggerator | Desormeaux | Desormeaux | 2016 | Preakness |
| Exaggerator | Desormeaux | Desormeaux | 2016 | Haskell |
| Exaggerator | Desormeaux | Desormeaux | 2016 | Santa Anita Derby |
| Lady Eli | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2016 | Flower Bowl |
| Mind Your Biscuits | Chad Summers | Rosario | 2016 | Malibu |
| Wake Forest | Brown | John Velazquez | 2016 | Man o' War |
| Ascend | Graham Motion | J. Ortiz | 2017 | Manhattan |
| Beach Patrol | Brown | Rosario | 2017 | Arlington Million |
| Beach Patrol | Brown | Rosario | 2017 | Joe Hirsch |
| Dacita | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2017 | Beverly D |
| Lady Eli | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2017 | Gamely |
| Lady Eli | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2017 | Diana |
| Mind Your Biscuits | Summers | Rosario | 2017 | Dubai Golden Shaheen |
| A Raving Beauty (GER) | Brown | I. Ortiz | 2018 | Just A Game |
| A Raving Beauty (GER) | Brown | Velazquez | 2018 | First Lady |
| Audible | Todd Pletcher | Velazquez | 2018 | FL Derby |
| Bowies Hero | Phil D'Amato | Nakatani | 2018 | Frank E. Kilroe |
| Catholic Boy | Jonathan Thomas | Javier Castellano | 2018 | Belmont Derby |
| Catholic Boy | Thomas | Castellano | 2018 | Travers |
| Fatale Bere (FR) | Leonard Powell | Desormeaux | 2018 | Del Mar Oaks |
| Justify | Bob Baffert | Mike Smith | 2018 | SA Derby |
| Justify | Baffert | Smith | 2018 | Kentucky Derby |
| Justify | Baffert | Smith | 2018 | Preakness |
| Justify | Baffert | Smith | 2018 | Belmont |
| Long on Value | Brad Cox | Geroux | 2018 | Highlander |
| Midnight Bisou | Steve Asmussen | Smith | 2018 | Cotillion |
| Mind Control | Gregory Sacco | Velazquez | 2018 | Hopeful |
| Mind Your Biscuits | Summers | Rosario | 2018 | Dubai Golden Shaheen |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2018 | Ashland |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2018 | Kentucky Oaks |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2018 | Acorn |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2018 | CCA Oaks |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2018 | BC Distaff |
| Whitmore | Ron Moquett | Santana | 2018 | Forego |
| Uni (GB) | Brown | Rosario | 2018 | Matriarch |
| Yoshida | Bill Mott | Jose Ortiz | 2018 | Turf Classic |
| Yoshida | Mott | Rosario | 2018 | Woodward |
| British Idiom | Cox | Castellano | 2019 | Alcibiades |
| British Idiom | Cox | Castellano | 2019 | BC Juvenile Fillies |
| Bowies Hero | D'Amato | Flavien Prat | 2019 | Shadwell Mile |
| Eight Rings | Baffert | Velazquez | 2019 | American Pharoah |
| Mia Mischief | Asmussen | Ricardo Santana Jr. | 2019 | Humana Distaff |
| Midnight Bisou | Asmussen | Smith | 2019 | Apple Blossom |
| Midnight Bisou | Asmussen | Smith | 2019 | Ogden Phipps |
| Midnight Bisou | Asmussen | Smith | 2019 | Personal Ensign |
| Mind Control | Sacco | Velazquez | 2019 | H. Allen Jerkens |
| She's a Julie | Asmussen | Santana | 2019 | La Troienne |
| Uni (GB) | Brown | Rosario | 2019 | First Lady |
| Uni (GB) | Brown | Rosario | 2019 | BC Mile |
| World of Trouble | Jason Servis | Franco | 2019 | Carter |
| World of Trouble | Servis | Franco | 2019 | Jaipur |
| Ya Primo (CHI) | Aguirre | Laprida | 2019 | Latinoamericano |
| Aunt Pearl (IRE) | Cox | Geroux | 2020 | BC Juvenile Fillies Turf |
| Authentic | Baffert | Smith | 2020 | Haskell |
| Authentic | Baffert | Velazquez | 2020 | Kentucky Derby |
| Authentic | Baffert | Velazquez | 2020 | BC Classic |
| Charlatan | Baffert | Martin Garcia | 2020 | Arkansas Derby |
| Charlatan | Baffert | Smith | 2020 | Malibu |
| Midnight Bisou | Asmussen | Smith | 2020 | Saudi Cup* |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2020 | BC Distaff |
| Monomoy Girl | Cox | Geroux | 2020 | La Troienne |
| She's a Julie | Asmussen | Santana | 2020 | Ogden Phipps |
| Speech | Michael McCarthy | Castellano | 2020 | Ashland |
| Uni (GB) | Brown | Rosario | 2020 | First Lady |
| Whitmore | Moquett | I. Ortiz | 2020 | BC Sprint |
| Drain The Clock | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | J. Oritz | 2021 | Woody Stephens |
| Tribhuvan | Brown | Prat | 2021 | United Nations |
| Pinehurst | Baffert | Smith | 2021 | Del Mar Futurity |
| Rockemperor | Brown | Castellano | 2021 | Joe Hirsch |
| Shantisara | Brown | Prat | 2021 | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Tribhuvan | Brown | Franco | 2022 | Manhattan |
| Adhamo | Brown | Prat | 2022 | United Nations |
| Caravel | Cox | Tyler Gaffalione | 2022 | BC Turf Sprint |
| Mind Control | Pletcher | Velazquez | 2022 | Cigar Mile |
| Doppelganger | Brittany Russell | Jevian Toledo | 2023 | Carter H. |
| National Treasure | Baffert | Velazquez | 2023 | Preakness |
| Caravel | Cox | Gaffalione | 2023 | Jaipur |
| Prince of Monaco | Baffert | Prat | 2023 | Del Mar Futurity |
| National Treasure | Baffert | Prat | 2024 | Pegasus World Cup |
| Newgate | Baffert | Dettori | 2024 | Santa Anita Handicap |
| Beaute Cachee | Brown | Dettori | 2024 | Jenny Wiley |
| Chili Flag (FR) | Brown | I. Ortiz, Jr. | 2024 | Just A Game |
| National Treasure | Baffert | Prat | 2024 | Met Mile |
| Jimmy P | Keri Brion | Stephen Mulqueen | 2024 | Jonathan Sheppard (NSA-1) |
| Citizen Bull | Baffert | Garcia | 2024 | American Pharoah |
| Citizen Bull | Baffert | Garcia | 2024 | BC Juvenile |
| Moira | Kevin Attard | Prat | 2024 | BC Filly & Mare Turf |
| Spirit of St. Louis | Brown | Gaffalione | 2025 | Pegasus World Cup Turf |
*The Saudi Cup gained group 1 status in 2022.
