From the Magazine: The Fun Continues

The following feature appeared in the October 2026 edition of BloodHorse Magazine. Back in 2001 when they raced their first Thoroughbreds, it was far from guaranteed that Jack and Laurie Wolf would be celebrating a silver anniversary in the sport. They had invested $1.2 million for nine yearlings in 2000, and Jack told his bloodstock man at the time, Barry Berkelhammer, that when their initial stake was gone, they'd be gone as well. And yet, 25 years later, here they remain, thanks to a parade of outstanding racehorses, the evolution of their Starlight Racing and StarLadies partnership groups that have embraced new opportunities, and plain old good luck. Jack Wolf is, by nature, a gambler who made his living as a stockbroker and hedge fund manager. At the Wolfs' sprawling Louisville, Ky.-area home, Wolf recently interrupted a presentation of Starlight stakes winners to explain how he landed, at generous odds, wagers on the New York Knicks becoming NBA champions and Jalen Brunson being named most valuable player. Wolf's manner, win or lose, has always reflected an easygoing nature that is a major asset for someone riding the vicissitudes of horse racing. He combines a dash of Southern gentleman, a streak of mischievous prankster, and a measure of solid businessman to stay ahead of the prevailing currents. Many of Starlight's headline horses today come courtesy of the group's partnership with SF Racing (now known as Front Row Club), Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, and several minority partners. Following early successes, the conglomeration became known unofficially as The Avengers. They have enjoyed pinnacle moments thanks to their ownership stakes in horses such as 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify and 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) hero Authentic. This group, often under the recommendations of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, buys yearling colts to be stewarded by trainer Bob Baffert. But Starlight also maintains horses apart from that group. In addition to approximately 20 yearlings purchased annually by The Avengers group, the 15 partners in Starlight buy an additional eight-to-10 horses every year to be trained by a variety of conditioners on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Current runners such as 2025 Lafayette Stakes winner Colloquial and Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) victor Fulleffort were purchased at sale by Corbin Blumberg, a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start program. As part of Flying Start, Blumberg interned at Starlight in 2020 and now directs its bloodstock decisions. Wolf's trust in the 31-year-old Blumberg reflects his progressive management style and ability to adapt. Wolf was introduced to horses while growing up in Louisville. It was his mother who began taking him to the races at Miles Park at the tender age of 8. Just before the turn of the century, Jack and wife, Laurie, began traveling around the United States going to various racetracks, and Jack popped the question: "Do you think we should buy some horses?" From that first crop of yearlings selected by Berkelhammer emerged Harlan's Holiday. It wasn't a completely scientific process. At Fasig-Tipton's 2000 The July Sale, Jack Wolf told his agent that he wanted to buy a yearling son of Harlan. Why? "The year before I had bet on Menifee (a son of Harlan) in the Blue Grass Stakes, and won," Wolf said. "That's how naïve I was. Barry found this one yearling by Harlan." Given a budget of $100,000 for the horse, Berkelhammer bought him for $97,000. Two years later, Harlan's Holiday won the Florida Derby (G1) and Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and the Pennsylvania Derby (G3). The following year, he scored in the Donn Handicap (G1) and went on to win nine of 22 starts and better than $3.6 million. You could say the Wolfs hit the ground running. They owned the colt by themselves. "We didn't know anybody else at the time crazy enough to go into the horse business," explained Jack. Before Harlan's Holiday worked his magic, the Wolfs dipped back into the yearling market for the second consecutive year, spending approximately another million bucks. Berkelhammer suggested to the Wolfs that if they wanted their initial investment to last, they should pinhook one of the yearlings from their first crop. They did so and received $700,000 at a 2-year-old sale. "We didn't really figure to make any dough with the horses," Jack said. "But we had Harlan's Holiday at the track, and we pinhooked that one big horse, and those two things kept us going. But by the third year, I looked at the overall picture and said, 'You know, this is a lot of risk to take. We're spending a million bucks a year.' We were lucky enough to have returns, but clearly this was going to be capital intensive. So, we decided to take on some partners." The ownership group changed. The luck didn't. The Wolfs eventually met up with investment executive Paul Saylor, who had been buying horses for a few years without a lot of success. Saylor had a friend, Johns Martin, who was also interested in partnering on horses. The Wolfs, Saylor, and Martin decided to go in on three horses together at the 2002 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Berkelhammer liked a Saint Ballado filly who was back at the knee and landed her for $170,000. Good decision. That turned out to be Ashado, who earned just less than $4 million in her brilliant race career, winning the 2004 Breeders' Cup Distaff and six other grade 1 events. After being voted champion 3-year-old filly of 2004 and champion older female a year later, she was eventually sold by the partners as a broodmare prospect for $9 million. She was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. One of the other horses in that trio was Purge, a $180,000 purchase who became a grade 1 winner of more than $900,000. The partnership continued to evolve. Despite Starlight Racing's success, Martin dropped out after a year, but Don Lucarelli and his wife, Barbara, who live near Saratoga Springs, N.Y., joined. The hits kept coming. Keyed Entry cost $145,000 as a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling and turned into a multiple graded stakes winner of more than $320,000. Octave, a daughter of Unbridled's Song who cost $350,000 at Keeneland September in 2005, won the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) in 2007. She rolled up $1.6 million in racetrack earnings before being sold as a broodmare prospect for $4 million. No wonder the Wolfs never tapped out on their initial investment. "We had a keen interest to be in the horse racing game, but I didn't really expect to have that kind of success," acknowledged Jack Wolf. "And the money isn't gone yet." Gradually, more investors were attracted to Starlight, and the number of partners wound up north to about 10 for a number of years. Today, that has grown to approximately 15, with Jack and Laurie counting as one of the 15 units. "Our model is built around going to the yearling sales, and as far as our East Coast horses go, we bought eight last year," Jack Wolf said. "Starlight buys between 50% and 100% of those horses. We don't charge any markups. If the horses earn more than what we paid for them, we get a kicker on the back end. The more partners we have, the more capital we have, the chances are better to find a good horse, with less risk and overhead." Lansdon Robbins III had a sizable stable with a few friends that included headline runners Offlee Wild and First Samurai before deciding to downsize after the 2009 recession. One of his trainers, Frankie Brothers, was preparing to retire, and when Jack Wolf hired Brothers to be his bloodstock man, Robbins came onboard Starlight. "I got into this business to have fun, and that's why I'm still in it," said Robbins, who is an entrepreneur who has sold homegrown businesses to Fortune 500 companies such as MetLife and AIG. "Starlight is set up better than other syndicates I looked at. It's a higher-level entry fee and has just the right amount of partners for me where the financial backend is more advantageous than most of the other syndicates. "This can be a treacherous business where you need a lot of luck, and spending up to $5 million a year wasn't all that thrilling to me anymore. With Starlight now I spend maybe 20% of that. Plus, I enjoy the social aspect of Thoroughbred racing. You go to the barn in the morning and meet all kinds of interesting people, and the camaraderie is great. It's fun to share that with partners. And I still love going to the sales, which I find captivating and exciting." Starlight has continued to find good horses. Monba won the 2008 Blue Grass Stakes. Take the Points took the Secretariat Stakes (G1T) and Jamaica Handicap (G1T) in 2009. Shanghai Bobby, a son of Harlan's Holiday, won the Hopeful Stakes (G2), Champagne Stakes (G1), and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) en route to being chosen champion 2-year-old male of 2012. However, success in the Kentucky Derby continued to elude the Wolfs. Harlan's Holiday, the lukewarm favorite in the 2002 edition of the Run for the Roses, finished seventh. Monba and Keyed Entry both checked in last. And General a Rod, in whom Starlight bought a percentage the week of the 2014 Derby, finished 11th. The Derby was getting to be an itch that Jack Wolf needed to scratch and led to a decision that diversified Starlight while adding luster to its resume. According to Wolf, several of his Starlight partners approached him in 2018 after their crop of 3-year-olds failed to qualify for the Derby and asked him to find a horse they could buy whole, or in part, that might take them to the Triple Crown races. The consortium of WinStar Farm, SF Racing, and China Horse Club was racing an Into Mischief colt named Audible early in the year. WinStar and SF, the latter principally a commercial breeding operation, agreed to sell 15% of Audible's racing rights to Starlight. When completed, SF/WinStar also offered 15% of another colt it owned. That was a son of Scat Daddy named Justify. Wolf called Justify's trainer, Bob Baffert, who was exuding confidence about the chestnut colt. Starlight bought 15% of his racing rights as well. "When Bob Baffert gets excited about a horse, you can't help but get excited also," Wolf noted. Kumin was looking to make a similar deal for his Madaket Stables, which specializes in buying pieces of proven racehorses. He received the same 15% in each of the two horses as Starlight had gotten. "It was funny; we really wanted Justify and Jack really wanted Audible, and so they did the same deal for both of us on both horses," Kumin noted. "It turned out to be a win for everybody, since Audible went on and won the Florida Derby." Justify, of course, was the real prize of the package, taking the Santa Anita Derby (G1)—from which he was later disqualified because of a postrace medication positive—before sweeping through the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes (G1), and Belmont Stakes (G1) to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in history. Although the dais at Justify's Derby postrace press conference was crowded with owners, Wolf was the lone Louisville native on the stage. John Asher, Churchill Downs' beloved head of publicity at the time, dug up the nugget that Wolf was the first native of Louisville to win the Derby in nearly 80 years. He became a local celebrity for a time thereafter, although he seemed a bit puzzled by the hoopla. After all, Starlight was very much a minority owner of the colt. However, winning a Kentucky Derby is a big deal no matter the level of participation. Robbins, who moved to Louisville in 1987, began going to the Derby the following year, when Winning Colors won a historic edition of the race. "For the first 10 years I went, I was in the infield with friends," he said. "The first yearling I bought at auction was Offlee Wild, who ran in the Derby. But being able to make it to the Derby winner's circle with Justify, holding the trophy, that was a pretty incredible feeling after starting out in the infield." A significant union came out of the Triple Crown experience with Justify. SF Racing eventually cut its ties with WinStar and China Horse Club. SF, Madaket, and Starlight, having enjoyed their ride together, decided to join forces, mapping out a plan to buy sale yearling colts which they would send to Baffert to train. The arrangement paid instant dividends when Authentic, an Into Mischief colt purchased at auction for $350,000, won the 2020 Kentucky Derby, Haskell Stakes (G1), and Breeders' Cup Classic. He banked $7.2 million, was named champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year, and was sold to Spendthrift Farm as a stallion prospect. In addition, Starlight, SF, and Madaket, dubbed The Avengers by bloodstock agent Lanni, have raced 2024 champion older dirt male National Treasure, a classic winner (2023 Preakness) and three-time grade 1 winner of $5.5 million; Charlatan, a multiple grade 1 winner of $4,047,200; 2024 champion 2-year-old male Citizen Bull ($1.7 million); and grade 1 winner Prince of Monaco. The Avengers have been buying approximately 20-25 yearlings annually and have also let additional partners into the arrangement, most notably Barbara Banke of Stonestreet; and Robert Masterson, who owned the superstar Tepin. Starlight owns between 20% and 25% of the horses purchased in partnership with Madaket and Front Row Club (SF). Asked if it is a different feeling today, owning a smaller slice of those horses than when he and Laurie began, Wolf reflected over his 25 years in the business. "There are plusses and minuses," he said. "I mean, the novelty of starting out and owning 100% of Harlan's Holiday and 33% of Ashado and Purge … It was all new to us, so it was a lot different. Not that you ever get used to it, or it gets stale, but I think it was probably a little more exciting then. "But the reality is, you're competing to buy these yearlings and competing to get the best trainers and jockeys, and we would not be able to do that if we didn't have partners. And the important thing is, we have really nice people for partners." Added Laurie Wolf, "The social aspect is a big part of it. Among our Starlight partners, we have assembled a group that is a lot of fun and really enjoys the racing. We go racing a lot here in Kentucky, and then we have the house in Saratoga where people are always stopping by. Having the great group that we do, and as much as they enjoy it, their passion and excitement is contagious. It keeps it all very much alive." About a dozen years ago, Laurie and Barbara Lucarelli hatched an idea to get some of the Starlight partners' wives involved in a ladies' group that would exclusively buy and race fillies. Thus was born StarLadies, which typically buys a handful of fillies annually to race. "There are currently eight partners in StarLadies," Laurie Wolf said. "Two years ago, we pivoted to buying 2-year-olds instead of yearlings, so we don't have the carrying costs going forward from a yearling sale. We can get the 2-year-olds to the track faster, which has allowed us to lower the cost of our buy-in. And all but one of the ladies made it to Royal Ascot this June to see More Champagne run." More Champagne, a 2-year-old Golden Pal filly who broke her maiden at Keeneland at first asking by 6 1/2 lengths, finished midpack among 27 runners in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Ascot. The thrill of racing internationally overshadowed any disappointment over the order of finish. Blumberg is buying the 2-year-olds for StarLadies as well as the Starlight Racing yearlings that compete on the East Coast and Midwest outside The Avengers partnership. Blumberg grew up in Maryland and worked summers for trainer Graham Motion at the Fair Hill Training Center. When he began working for Starlight six years ago, he was able to learn from Brothers, who remained Starlight's bloodstock man until retiring four years ago. "Frankie took me under his wing, teaching me conformation and what is and isn't acceptable. He is such a good horseman from his years training," said Blumberg, who remarked he benefits from the flexibility afforded him when buying yearlings for Starlight. "We don't compete against 'The Avengers' horses. We don't buy the same type of horse they are buying. We have a wider choice from a sire standpoint. For example, we buy more yearlings by freshman sires. Colloquial was from the first crop by Vekoma and had the look of a sprinter. Also, if there is a turf horse I really like, we can do that." Acknowledging his relative youth, Blumberg said there is pressure involved in having such responsibility. "I always try to remember we are spending a lot of money," he said. "People are putting their trust in me and in Starlight, and I want to perform for our partners. Jack is an incredible boss who understands the game, and his faith in me is critical. So, yes, I put pressure on myself, but I think it is good pressure." The youth movement is also well served by Elinor Wolf, yet to turn 30. She directs the marketing and partner recruitment efforts of Starlight, and is also a Flying Start graduate. Growing up as her parents enjoyed success at the races, Elinor was inspired by the beauty of the horses. "I got to be part of the journey with Ashado," she said. "When Dad told me we had sold her, I did not understand how that could be a good thing. But when I was in Flying Start, I got to see one of her last foalings, and I also got to work with one of her yearlings, which was special." Elinor recruits prospective partners for Starlight. "We will have turnover, because some people come in, have a great time, and then go into ownership for themselves," she said. "And that's great for the sport. Some leave and come back. We try to keep ours an exclusive, intimate partnership, rather than a large syndicate. We want our partners to be true owners. And we want everyone to have a good time together, which means finding the right people who want to have fun. This does take a sizable financial commitment, and we want to make sure everyone has a good time. We've created great friendships." Involvement in the Thoroughbred industry has gone beyond simply having fun for Jack Wolf. He has served as head of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, which awards grants to organizations dedicated to retraining and rehoming Thoroughbreds. "We have gotten it up to the point where we raise between $4 and $5 million a year, and I guess you could say that's good," he said. "But when we started out about 13 years ago, my hope was that it would be bigger than that by now. I was frustrated that we didn't get mandatory funding for it." Twenty-five years have yielded a wealth of experiences and some 135 individual stakes winners for Starlight, including 40 grade 1 victories. Enjoyment and achievement have far outpaced expectations for a couple just looking to find some kicks from buying and racing a crop of yearlings. The Wolfs' lifestyle has revolved around their horses now for a quarter century. "You don't do this," Laurie Wolf said, "if you don't love it." Subscribe Now to the magazine