my boy jack horse owner My Boy Jack, The Horse With The West Hartford Tie, To Skip Belmont Stakes. My Boy Jack, who came from second to last in a field of 20 horses to finish fifth in the Kentucky Derby, won’t be running in the Belmont Stakes June 9. My Boy Jack caught the attention of many in Connecticut, as one of his owners is from West Hartford. He was also a popular bet at the Derby, with his odds to win starting at 30-1 and being lowered to 6-1 on race day. Don’t Tell My Wife Stables, which co-owns the horse, issued a statement on Twitter saying My Boy Jack will skip the Belmont Stakes and focus on the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. “Jack is 100% sound but prefer a fresh horse for the summer and beyond,” the statement read. He Tried Hiding A Horse From His Wife, Now This West Hartford Business Owner Is Headed To The Kentucky Derby. WEST HARTFORD — The day that Michael Gualtieri toured the racing stables in Louisiana wasn't particularly memorable, except one of his colleagues was bitten by a horse. Another was allergic. They were in New Orleans on business and somebody knew a trainer, Keith Desormeaux, who invited them to a nearby racetrack. They all got up at 4 a.m. and trooped out there. "We stayed for 4-5 hours and watched the whole process. I knew traditional sports, but I knew nothing about horse racing," Gualtieri said. " [Desormeaux] came to us the next day and said, 'Why don't you buy a couple horses?' The guy that got bit wasn't too interested in writing out a check. We had to convince him. He doesn't get too close now. "We decided we'd give a small amount of money to get it going. It was $800. As I'm writing the check out, I'm like, 'Don't tell my wife. I need a couple weeks to come up with a good presentation.' Rob Slack, one of the partners, said, 'That's the name, you just came up with the name of the stable.'" Gualtieri's wife found out on Facebook a few days later. "I remember saying to my wife, 'We're doing this for fun. It's not going to cost us a lot of money. And it's not like we're trying to be in the Kentucky Derby,'" he said. Except now, they are. My Boy Jack, a 3-year-old dark bay colt that Desormeaux bought at the Keeneland yearling sales for the bargain basement price of $20,000, will run from the 10th post position in the Kentucky Derby Saturday. The horse is co-owned by Don't Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables. Kent Desormeaux, the Hall of Fame jockey who is Keith's brother, is riding the horse, whose odds are 30-1. "It's remarkable how quickly it's occurred and how unlikely a horse that it's happened with," said Gualtieri, 60, who owns ProCourier, a same-day package delivery business in West Hartford. That initial $800 investment in 2010 helped to buy a claiming horse named Alcazar. The group bought others. One, a filly named Danette, ran in the Breeders' Cup juvenile fillies race in 2014. I remember saying to my wife, ‘We’re doing this for fun. It’s not going to cost us a lot of money. And it’s not like we’re trying to be in the Kentucky Derby.' In 2016, Desormeaux went to the yearling sale and bought some horses. One was $160,000, a couple cost $75,000 and a few were $50,000. My Boy Jack was kind of an afterthought. "This is just crazy," Gualtieri said. "It was the last purchase of the day kind of thing. He's raced 10 times and had his most success the last four races and kind of came out of nowhere." Desormeaux, who is based in California, has at times got the most out of horses without breaking the bank. "It's phenomenal what he can do," said Kirk Godby, managing partner of Don't Tell My Wife Stables. "It's not a fluke. He's been doing it for four years with a little money behind him." Though he finished seventh at the Breeders' Cup juvenile turf race in November, My Boy Jack wasn't exactly on the Derby radar at the start of the year. But after he won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas in Feb. 19, he picked up 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. On March 24, he finished third at the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and picked up 20 more points. It was uncertain whether he would have enough points to qualify, so Desormeaux elected to run him in another race, the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes on April 13 in Keeneland. My Boy Jack came from ninth place to win the race by a head over Telekinesis and lock in a spot at Churchill Downs. Get to Know the Horse Owners of the 2018 Kentucky Derby. The greatest two minutes in sports is right around the corner! While the horses take center stage at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, have you ever wondered about the people who own the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve runners? Meet the owners behind the run for the roses now: About: Robert and Lawana Low are prominent horse owners with a Thoroughbred farm called Primatara located just north of Springfield, Mo.; Primatara is also home to one of the country’s largest houses. Robert and Lawana are also the owners of Prime, Inc., which is America’s most successful refrigerated, flatbed, tanker, and intermodal trucking company. The Lows have owned several prominent racehorses before Magnum Moon, including 2006 Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Steppenwolfer, Real Cozzy, and Green Fee. About: e Five Racing Thoroughbreds is the nom de course of Bob and Kristine Edwards and their three children – Cassidy, Riley, and Delaney. The family got into Thoroughbred racing in August of 2015, and their success has been astronomical: in just two years of ownership, the Edwards have celebrated three Breeders’ Cup wins, including two World Championships victories in 2017. Bob is the owner of e5 Pharma, which is a pharmaceutical company for pets. Stonestreet Stables is the name of owner Barbara Banke’s operation; Banke is best known for owning and operating Kendall-Jackson Wine and is a UCLA and Hastings Law School graduate who formerly practiced land use and constitutional law. Stonestreet is best known for campaigning 2007 and 2008 Horse of the Year Curlin and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. About: China Horse Club was established by Teo Ah Khing as a lifestyle and Thoroughbred racing club in 2013. They have been active at major North American Thoroughbred auctions as well as purchasing shares in racehorses that are already successful. Head of Plains Partners is the nom de course for Sol Kumin. Kumin, founder and chief executive officer of Folger Hill Asset Management, has been as adept as a Thoroughbred owner as he is in the financial world. OwnerView honored him as the top new owner in 2015. Kumin is best known for teaming with Jay Hanley to purchase Lady Eli, who rebounded from life-threatening laminitis to reassert herself as one of the leading turf mares of her era. Starlight Racing is the stable of Jack and Laurie Wolf. Louisville, Ky., native Jack was a hedge fund manager at Columbus Partners, and in 2000, he and his wife Laurie – both longtime racing fans – became owners when they purchased six yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale in July. The pair’s love of horses is evident in everything they do, including founding the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the industry's first broad-based initiative dedicated to helping retired Thoroughbreds. Laurie is the managing partner and CEO of StarLadies Racing and also serves on the board of the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs. In 2000, Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner, founders of Excel Communications, a long-distance telephone service and communications company, founded WinStar Farm after buying the 1,450-acre Prestonwood Farm property near Versailles, Ky., from brothers Art, Jack and J.R. Preston. In 2010, Troutt bought out Casner’s portion of WinStar, and is now the sole owner. With the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, Troutt created the White Horse Award, presented annually to a farm or racetrack worker who performs an unselfish heroic act. WinStar received the Eclipse Award as Outstanding Owner in 2010 based in part of the success of their Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver. About: See above for biographical information on WinStar Farm. Repole Stable is owned by Mike Repole, a self-made New York billionaire who founded VitaminWater, Smartwater, Bodyarmor, and Pirate’s Booty. Repole has owned several top racehorses in his tenure in the Thoroughbred industry, most notably Uncle Mo, Stay Thirsty, Notacatbutallama, and Stopchargingmaria. About: See above for biographical information on Repole Stable. St. Elias Stable is the racing operation of Vincent Viola, founder and executive chairman of the electronic trading firm Virtu Financial and former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Viola graduated from West Point Academy and served in the U.S. Army Reserves. Viola also owns the NHL's Florida Panthers. Viola’s St. Elias co-owned 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming. About: Ruis Racing is the operation of the Ruis family. Founder Mick Ruis also serves as the stable's trainer and his daughter, Shelbe, also is a licensed trainer. Before he dove in to horse racing, Mick Ruis was (and is) a hands-on owner of a large scaffolding company that was a major supplier for the U.S. Navy. A native of El Cajon, Calif., Ruis became a fan of horse racing after visiting Agua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, as a teenager. About: Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, also known as Sheikh Mohammed, is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and emir of Dubai. A keen equestrian, he is the founder of the Maktoum family-owned Godolphin racing stable and breeding operation with outposts in six countries. Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin have won the Dubai World Cup eight times, including this year with Thunder Snow. About: Englishman Derrick Smith, who lives in Barbados, is the part-owner of the Sandy Lane Hotel, a five-diamond luxury getaway in Barbados. Susan Magnier, wife of Coolmore Stud owner John Magnier, is the daughter of famed Irish trainer Vincent O'Brien, one of the legends of the Turf who won 42 classic races in Europe during his career. Vincent O’Brien started Coolmore as a partnership in the 1970s with Tim Vigors and Robert Sangster. In the 1980s, John Magnier joined Coolmore and eventually became sole owner of one of the two leading international Thoroughbred owning-breeding enterprises, along with Godolphin. Michael Tabor was the owner and chairman of the Prince Arthur betting shops in Great Britain. He sold the 114 shops on Sept. 29, 1995, to Coral, the country's third-largest operator of betting shops; the sale price was not disclosed, though estimates ranged from $15 million to $35 million. Tabor has been involved with Coolmore partners since the 1990s, and he enjoyed his first top-level success in U.S. racing in 1995 when Thunder Gulch won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. About: See above for biographical information on China Horse Club International, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm. About: John Oxley founded Oxley Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration firm based in his native Tulsa, in 1962. He sold the company in May of 2003 and has since started Oxley Resources, a smaller scale oil and gas exploration and production venture. John Oxley, along with his wife, Debbie, have campaigned many successful Thoroughbreds, among them 2016 champion 2-year-old male and 2017 Preakness Stakes runner-up Classic Empire, 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, and 2015 Stephen Foster Stakes winner Noble Bird. About: See above for biographical information on Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Ahmed Zayat was born in Cairo, Egypt to a wealthy family, and grew up in an ethnically-diverse neighborhood where he learned to ride horses. At age 18, he moved to the United States where he attended college and ultimately obtained a master's degree in business and public health from Boston University. After a brief career in commercial real estate in New York City, he returned to Egypt, and for about a decade ran the Al- Ahram Beverages Company, which he owned as part of an investment group. In horse racing, Zayat is most famous for campaigning 2015 Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner American Pharoah. 12. Bravazo. About: The Calumet name is one of the most famous names in the history of racing. Established by William Monroe Wright, the farm produced eight Kentucky Derby winners and two Triple Crown winners. In 1992, Henryk de Kwiatkowski bought the farm where it ran under his name and then under trustees before Brad Kelley took the operation over in 2012. Brad Maurice Kelley is an American businessman who is the fourth-largest landowner in the U.S., with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion in 2015. He founded the Commonwealth Brands tobacco company in 1991 and sold the company in 2001 to Houchens Industries for $1 billion. Kelley leases the historic farm from Calumet Investment Trust, which purchased the property in 2012 for an estimated $36-$40 million. In 2013, he started using the Calumet name for his stable, which he had previously operated under the name Bluegrass Hall. Kelley’s Calumet won that year’s Preakness Stakes with Oxbow. Last year, he sent three horses to the Kentucky Derby: Sonneteer, Hence, and Patch. About: Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Don’t Tell My Wife Stables is a partnership helmed by trainer J. Keith Desormeaux (who conditions My Boy Jack), Louisiana horseman Kirk Godby, and Lake George, N.Y., resident Rob Slack. Monomoy Stables is run by Sol Kumin, founder and chief executive officer of Folger Hill Asset Management (see above under Audible and Justify: Head of Plains Partners.) Monomoy Stables is co-owner of 2018 Longines Kentucky Oaks favorite Monomoy Girl. About: Robert J. Baron is the Chairman of Baron Construction Corp. and is the owner of Baron Utilities Corp. in Albany, New York. As a child, Baron would visit Saratoga Race Course, sparking a passion that would last his lifetime. Baron named his horse Promises Fulfilled for three reasons: to celebrate his relationship with his wife of 44 years, to acknowledge that he’d kept a pledge to his children to educate them, and because his trainer Dale Romans told Baron that he’d have a good horse one day. About: Albaugh Family Stable is the Des Moines, Iowa-based racing operation of Dennis Albaugh, who mortgaged his home to start his own pesticide company Albaugh Inc. Today Albaugh is a multibillion-dollar international company. Albaugh owns 100% of the company and has a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion. Albaugh’s son-in-law Jason Loutsch is general manager of the stable. Albaugh Family Stables was represented in the 2016 Kentucky Derby with Brody’s Cause and in the 2017 Derby with J Boys Echo. About: G M B Racing is the ownership group run by Gayle Benson. Ms. Benson is the wife of the late Tom Benson, owner of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association, who passed away in March 2018. Longtime supporters of Louisiana’s Thoroughbred industry, Tom and Gayle Benson owned 2016 Kentucky Derby starters Tom’s Ready and Mo Tom, both graded stakes winners. 17. Hofburg. About: Prince Khalid Abdullah is the first cousin of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the brother-in-law of the late ruler King Fahd. Juddmonte has been one of the most successful international owner-breeder operations for over 40 years, recently represented by stars such as European Horse of the Year Frankel (named after the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who was Juddmonte’s stable trainer in the U.S.) and all-time leading U.S. moneywinner Arrogate. About: Ron Lombardi of Mr. Amore Stables is the owner of a physical therapy franchise called Sports Care, and is the official physical therapy provider of the Brookyn Nets. Mr. Amore Stables has been operating since 2007, and Lombardi has campaigned such top horses as Tightend Touchdown, Ribo Bobo, and American Border. Joan Winchell and her son, Ron, are continuing the racing operation started by the late Verne H. Winchell, Joan's husband and Ron's father. The elder Winchell, who died at age 87 in 2002, founded the donut company Winchell's in 1948 and later was CEO and chairman of Denny's restaurants. The Winchells have had great success in the sport of Thoroughbred racing, represented by such horses as Untapable and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner. Willis Horton is a longtime horse owner as well as a successful businessman: before dedicating himself full-time to Thoroughbred ownership, Horton helmed his family’s D. R. Horton Custom Homes until the business went public in 1992. Since then, Horton has campaigned such notable horses as Will Take Charge (later co-owned with Three Chimneys Farm) and Take Charge Brandi, both Eclipse Award winners. Lawrence Best is the founder and chairman of OXO Racing. He has seved as the chief financial officer of Boston Scientific, a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical devices; and Best is also the founder and chairman of OXO Capital LLC. Best serves on several corporate boards, including 4Tech, Myriad Genetics, and Archemix Corp. Best is a graduate of Kent State University, and is a founding director of the President's Council at Massachusetts General Hospital. West Hartford Businessman is ‘Off to the Races’ … Literally. When the starting gates open at this year’s Kentucky Derby, a West Hartford businessman, Michael Gualtieri, will be on the edge of his seat at Churchill Downs. His horse, My Boy Jack , will be one of the horses in the 20-horse field. The story of how Gualtieri, the president of ProCourier in West Hartford, and a group of other transportation industry veterans and long-time friends created Don’t Tell My Wife Stables came to own a horse running in the 2018 Kentucky Derby is a convoluted one. The short version is that for a modest $20,000 yearling purchase, Don’t’ Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables got themselves a top thoroughbred and ended up in the 2018 Kentucky Derby. Don’t’ Tell My Wife Stables was a brainchild of Kirk Godby, Rob Slack, and Michael Gualtieri, longtime veterans of the courier industry and all former presidents of the Customized Logistics and Delivery Association and its predecessor the Messenger Courier Association of America. Back in 2010 they were part of a group of longtime friends and courier industry associates who had gathered in New Orleans to attend a board meeting for what was then MCAA. They had a few hours off, so Kirk Godby, who still serves on the board of the association, told the group he had a life-long friend, Keith Desormeaux, who was a trainer over at the local race track, the Fairgrounds. The group headed over to the track for a day of races, adult beverages, and a back-side tour from Desormeaux. Nobody won any money that day, but the back-side tour proved to be interesting. For one, Rob Johnstone (then owner of Priority Express) joined the tour and was bitten by a horse. More importantly, the businessmen got a crash course in racing from Desormeaux. Godby (then owner of Corporate Couriers and now co-owner of Flexible WorkForce) had been around the racing game all his life. His dad “Dub” owned a few horses and Godby was a regular at the track. Slack, (now president of Flexible WorkForce) grew up just outside Saratoga and worked at the track as a mutual clerk his junior year of college. At the end of the tour Desormeaux, said, “You boys ought to put together a few bucks and we’ll buy a horse. I’ll train him and pay all the expenses and then revenue share with a bigger cut of the purse money.” Everybody went back down to the French Quarter and, as they hopped from bar to bar, the discussion kept coming up about what everyone thought. Michael Gualtieri (right) and his son, Mike III, at the Louisiana Derby in New Orleans. Courtesy photo. Gualtieri, who is a West Hartford resident as well as owner of West Hartford-based ProCourier, kept the discussion going all night, encouraging the others to take the chance. By the end of the night, the group decided they would all put in $800 and buy a horse. The name for the stables came from a comment from Gualtieri. After each conference call he’d say: “Whatever we do, please don’t tell my wife. She’ll think I’m crazy.” From there the name of the stable was obvious and “Don’t Tell My Wife Stables” was born. With a pool of $6,400 they told Desormeaux, “Here’s your stake. Let us know when it’s all gone!” Little did they realize that the trainer, Desormeaux, was one of the most intuitive bloodstock trainers in horse racing. He claimed a horse named Alcazar for $5,000 and Don’t Tell My Wife Stables was off to the races! They all figured they would run Alcazar a few times and have bragging rights in their local bars that they were “Horse owners.” They had no idea what they had started. Alcazar won! And then won again! And again! And again!! He was so successful that someone purchased him from the stables, giving them new funds to buy other horses. Over the next few years those horses had some good successes and the stable bought more. As the wins and the claims to buy their horses started piling up, so did the attention Don’t Tell My Wife Stables was getting from the industry. Fast forward a couple of years, the group decided to raise more money and have Desormeaux buy yearlings for them, and the group acquired horses that went on to participate in the Breeders Cup and win several graded stakes races. Don’t Tell My Wife Stables bought six yearlings at the 2016 Keeneland September Sale, and one of them, My Boy Jack, is in the Kentucky Derby. “It’s the pinnacle of the racing sport,” said Slack. “It’s the most exciting two minutes in sports. I can assure you there will be a group of old friends screaming as loud as they can, running for the roses!” “It’s been a heck of a ride,” explained Godby. “One day we are a bunch of courier guys and the next day we are getting calls for interviews on radio and TV. It’s crazy.” And the stable name? “We get asked about that all the time. It’s just as funny today as it was in 2010,” said Gualtieri. About Don’t Tell My Wife Stables. Don’t Tell My Wife Stables was formed to allow individuals the opportunity to participate in affordable thoroughbred ownership and introduce them to the pageantry, thrills and excitement that thoroughbred racing brings. It is headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, and has brought over 70 new member owners to the industry. The horses of Don’t Tell My Wife stables compete at racetracks such as Del Mar, Santa Anita Park, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Fair Grounds, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course. Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF! Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use! Try unrolling a thread yourself! 2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll. You can practice here first or read more on our help page! More from @jacksgabe see all. “Shit,” Gabe says, mouth still warm, tongue tingling from the savory mix of spices in the meat and sauce. “This is amazing. Where’d you learn to make this?” Jack Morrison stirs the pot of chili and flicks a flat glance paired with a vague smile at him. “Mom’s recipe.” “Marry me,” Gabe says, angling his spoon back towards the pot. Morrison slaps his hand with the back of the wooden spoon he’s holding. “No,” he says simply. Gabe hasn’t figured him out just yet, but he will soon. how old do you think Pharah was when she had a lightbulb moment and realized that her mom used to or was dating both Jack and Gabe. like they were always around and such good friends with her mom, when did it click oh my god they’re dating she’s seeing both of them. romantically. “Are you dating Uncle Jack?” Ana doesn’t flinch. “It’s not like that,” she says. “You know Jack is my commanding officer.” “What about Uncle Gabe?” “Saw what?” Ana pushes her hair back and turns on the kettle for hot water. Related threads. In death, Sen. John McCain is about to exact revenge on Trump. #Religion and #MoneyWashing. Not so strange bedfellows. In death, John McCain shows a virtuous alternative to Trump. PBO, who beat Mr McCain to the WH in 2008, said they shared a "fidelity to something higher". GWB described him as "a patriot of the highest order". Condolences pour in after the death of John McCain. John McCain to Lie in State at Capitols in DC and Az. The death of Sen. John McCain marks the passing of a man, an American patriot & a politician whose record of service to country will always be his defining attribute. We must ensure his legacy of bi-partisanship & patriotism endures into the future. Jack's family moves from their small farm in Indiana to the big LA when he's still in high school. And that's where he meets Gabriel Reyes. Gabriel isn't like the boys from Jack's hometown. He's not impressed by Jack's flashy good looks and how quickly people seem to gravitate to him. In fact, he barely gives Jack a second glance. That just won't do. So Jack goes out of his way to get Gabriel's attention. He ignores the people willing to be his friend and makes it his goal for Reyes to just speak to him. Just once. He get's his wish two months into the school year. I'm thinking Jack as a journalist, challenged to do the "one night in a wax museum" thing. (Since he lost a bet in his journalist company). His boss wants a segment of his experience or something so Jack takes a vid camera, sleeping bag, notebooks and some necessities. His bet requires him to set up in the 'murderers' section for maximum fear factor and what not. Jack admits he's a little scared cause everything looks so real. One of the statues is a guy called Gabriel Reyes. The story was that he murdered people around the city.