No Bad Beats Allows Thiele to Dream of Breeders' Cup

Alex Thiele has a chance to fulfill a long-term goal just seven months into his career as a Thoroughbred owner. Thiele will be at Gulfstream Park Sept. 12 to watch No Bad Beats run in the $225,000 Princess Rooney Stakes (G3), a 7-furlong Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In event for fillies and mares. The winner earns an automatic, fees-paid berth to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland. For Thiele, 43, a Breeders' Cup starter has been a goal almost from the moment he entered the game. "The long-term goal was to have a horse at the Breeders' Cup," Thiele said. "So for it not even to win, not even hit the board; just to have a horse at the Breeders' Cup would literally be my ownership dream coming true in under a year." It would be a remarkably quick ascent for the Minneapolis resident, who runs an institutional private credit investment fund and has applied his data-driven professional background to racing. Thiele's connection to the sport goes back much further. His father, Rick, took him to the races growing up, but the sport truly took hold when Thiele (pronounced "Thee-lee") attended the University of Kentucky and attended races in Lexington. "Keeneland on a fall afternoon is a pretty special place on earth," he said. A trip with wife Emily to the 2025 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar helped rekindle his interest in becoming an owner. Thiele initially bought into a horse through the Thorough Crowd syndicate in January. He quickly discovered he wanted a more hands-on role. "As I like to tell my wife, I'm a light switch, not a dimmer switch," he said. "I'm in the 'on' position at the moment." That switch has stayed on. Thiele Thoroughbreds, which he owns solely, already has about a dozen horses. His strategy has centered largely on identifying claiming horses whose form, conditions, or running styles suggest they might thrive in a different setting. "I try to approach it like we're trying to solve a handicapping or a data puzzle," Thiele said. He has spread his stable around the country, working with four primary trainers: John A. Ortiz, Leonard Powell, Lacey Gaudet, and Heather Irion. Thiele said he has gravitated toward smaller operations and trainers willing to collaborate with an owner who wants to study the numbers while respecting the horsemanship side of the equation. "He's kind of new to the game, and he studies a lot," Powell said. "He's the one that usually would suggest the horses to claim, and he was very astute." Thiele's first claim on his own was Lovin' On the Run, a mare Powell helped him acquire for $50,000 Feb. 13 at Santa Anita Park. Thiele had studied claiming races around the country for weeks looking for a horse he believed could improve under different circumstances. Lovin' On the Run eventually ran second at 21-1 odds May 17 at Churchill Downs with Thiele's parents, wife, and children, Henry and Charlie, there to watch. "We struck gold with her, and the family has become quite attached," Thiele said. "She's never leaving the Thiele stable." That family connection has become as important as the racing itself for the new owner. Emily has taken riding lessons, while 7-year-old Henry and 4-year-old Charlie enjoy visiting the horses and feeding them carrots. Thiele is also beginning to branch beyond claiming. He has bought horses through digital auctions and plans to look at yearlings with bloodstock agent Conor Foley. The eventual goal is to acquire fillies capable of earning black type as he builds a small broodmare band. No Bad Beats, 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Storm—Miss Cobblestone, by Afleet Alex, illustrates why Thiele believes the claiming game can provide a quicker route to quality horses. Thiele landed the filly for $50,000 Aug. 9 at Del Mar after she won a 6 1/2-furlong allowance optional claimer. Already graded stakes-placed, No Bad Beats offered Thiele something he values: upside coupled with residual broodmare value. Powell said she came into his barn in excellent condition. "She's a very classy filly," he said. "Very easygoing, very straightforward." The Princess Rooney was not the original plan when she was claimed. Thiele and Powell had considered Churchill Downs' Open Mind Stakes before settling on Gulfstream, where the Breeders' Cup berth added an irresistible opportunity. No Bad Beats will face an expected six rivals in the Princess Rooney, scheduled as Gulfstream's ninth race with a 4:33 p.m. ET post time. Whatever happens Saturday, Thiele intends his involvement in racing to be measured in decades, not months. "He's young to the game, but he loves it and he studies a lot," Powell said. "He's looking to be there in the long run." A victory Saturday, however, would dramatically accelerate that journey. Alex and Emily plan to be at Gulfstream, and if No Bad Beats punches her ticket to Keeneland, the rest of the family will follow. "It would be a very truly special moment," Thiele said. "The family would definitely be in Lexington. You couldn't keep us away."