Wolf follows Magics from afar

Cover image courtesy of Keeneland

Written by Bren O'Brien

While he won't be enjoying the famous Gold Coast hospitality this year, Starlight Racing's managing partner Jack Wolf will be watching closely from afar as the colts' syndicate he is part of continues their investment at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Wolf and his daughter Elinor attended the Sale last year as Starlight became involved in Newgate/SF Bloodstock colts' partnership which also involves China Horse Club. Two purchases made by that group in 2020 have already tasted success with Captivant (Capitalist) and Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice) both winning pre-Christmas 2-year-old races.

Newgate's Henry Field will again be heading up the syndicate involving Starlight in 2021, with Wolf happy to follow from back at his home in the United States as his partners search for the next generation of stars.

"We are working down there with Henry Field and we were involved in the crop last year and will be participating in this crop again. Our relationship with them and SF has been a very good experience for everybody," Wolf told TDN AusNZ.

"Henry is always very open in telling what is happening down there. They’ve been looking at all the bloodstock down there and they will do what they are going to do. It's all on Henry, he's the man and he's got some good support behind him. Let's hope we can have some luck."

In an uncertain time for the global economy, Wolf is again happy to back the Australian thoroughbred industry for a second straight year.

"It's day-to-day and year-to-year at the moment. We’ve had a very good year and we’ve had some really good horses come through that we bought a year ago. You have to take these investments a year at a time, and we will see how we go," he said.

"We've been lucky in the past 12 months and I think we’ve been fortunate in the stock we have bought down there in Australia. We are certainly happy to participate more going forward."

Wolf said Starlight's ongoing investment in Australia through its participation in the colts' fund stacks up as good as any place in the world.

"The economics of buying a racehorse, is always a hard sell, but you can make a lot more of an economic case for the Australian model for a number of reasons. If we can get back to where things were and travel down there and enjoy those other benefits of partnership, then we will continue," he said.

"I think the economics are there from the strength of the dollar, the overall level of purses, the government support, all those economics factors make a lot of sense, especially compared to the US."

Wolf harbours great memories of his trip to the Gold Coast last year and is hoping it is just the first of many opportunities to come to Australia.