SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2018 KUMIN EYES NEW TARGET, SATURDAY=S KENTUCKY DERBY/OAKS WORKERS THE KENTUCKY DERBY $ Unbeaten GI Santa Anita Derby winner and >TDN Rising Star= Justify (Scat Daddy) had his pen-ultimate workout Saturday morning for the GI Kentucky Derby, going six furlongs under jockey Drayden Van Dyke in 1:13.20 (4/16). "I was happy with the work," Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. "Everything went well. He'll work one more time here next weekend." Added private clocker Toby Turrell, "Justify was just as impressive as he's been up to this point. Nothing's changed." $ Trainer Chad Brown called Saturday=s breeze by champion 2- year-old colt and last out GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Good Magic (Curlin) Aoutstanding@ after the chestnut worked four furlongs in :48 (6/71). Keeneland clockers caught Good Magic galloping out five furlongs in 1:00 and six furlongs in 1:14. Cont. p4 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Sol Kumin | Sarah Andrew JAMES GARFIELD TAKES THE GREENHAM By Bill Finley G2 Mill Reef S. hero James Garfield (Ire) (Exceed And Excel Sol Kumin is a specialist. He prefers to buy into horses that {Aus}) won Newbury’s G3 Greenham S. on Saturday. Click or have already raced and shown talent and prefers to focus on tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. quality fillies and mares, particularly ones that run on the grass. It's a program that is working as Kumin has gone from an unknown in the sport to one of the game's most visible and successful owners, doing so in a very short time. The only problem is that's no way to win a GI Kentucky Derby and what major owner doesn't want to be part of a Kentucky Derby winner? So Kumin, who has approached horse ownership with a pragmatic business plan where the primary goal is to make money, has decided to change things up a bit and buy into the Derby dream. He's been involved with a handful of good 3-year-old colts in the past, but never anything like this. Kumin is set to be the co-owner of three Derby starters, >TDN Rising Star= Justify (Scat Daddy), Audible (Into Mischief) and My Boy Jack (Creative Cause). He is also the co-owner of GII Remsen S. winner Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), who is no longer on the Derby trail. "We're trying to do smart things and take care of our money, which we've worked so hard to make," Kumin said. "But we are also doing this for fun." Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Sunday, April 22, 2018 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN Assistant Editor Bobby Klatt ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Rachel McCaffrey Photo Editor/Dir. of Distribution GI Ashland S. winner and likely GI Kentucky Oaks favorite Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] breezed a half-mile in :47.40 (4/50) under regular pilot Florent Geroux at Churchill Downs Saturday morning. | Coady Photography Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes AWESOME AGAIN GELDING GETS THE MONEY AT CT 5 [email protected] Something Awesome (Awesome Again) continued his upward progression with a big payday in Saturday’s GII Charles Town Classic S. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Director of Information Technology Ray Villa TODAY’S GRADED STAKES [email protected] EST Race Click for TV Bookkeeper 2:35a Yomiuri Milers Cup-G2, KYO -------------- ----- Terry May [email protected] 2:45a Sankei Sports Sho Flora S.-G2, TOK -------------- ----- 12:00p Dr Busch Memorial-G3, KRE -------------- ----- WORLDWIDE INFORMATION 12:20p Vintage Crop S.-G3, NAV -------------- ----- International Editor 5:00p San Juan Capistrano S.-GIII, SA TJCIS PPs TVG Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • APRIL 22, 2018 Kumin has never gone into anything he has done in racing without a plan, and his quest to be part of a Derby winner is no different. He is not, and says he never will be, a major player at the yearling or 2-year-old sales, so the only way he is going to have his name etched into Derby history is to buy into a top, established horse. That's what he did in March when he, along with partners, bought a 15% share in both Audible and Justify. Kumin's Monomoy Stables owns 50% of My Boy Jack a horse his team bought for just $20,000 at Keeneland September 2016. "My view is, instead of buying a bunch of yearlings and 2-year-olds and hoping you wind up with the one that turns out to be really good, why not wait until a little bit later when you have more data and more information and take a shot," he said. That theory worked out perfectly in 2016 when a Kumin-led group bought into Exaggerator (Curlin), who would go on to finish second in the Derby and win the GI Preakness S. He didn't fare nearly as well last year when he bought into "a bunch of horses" and more or less came away empty. "Whether they win the Derby or not, it's fair to say we have already hit with Justify and Audible," he said. "Since we bought in, they are three for three in terms of wins, with a Grade I win each. The Derby is a big day and I love to have a horse in the race. We had two two years ago (Exaggerator and My Man Sam (Trappe Shot)), none last year, and this year three. This year, we've been super lucky." Kumin said he normally prefers to buy more than 15% of a horse, but that's all that was offered to him in the case of both Justify and Audible. He declined to go into specifics when asked whether or not the 15% entitled him to share in the stallion rights of the two horses. Of his three potential Derby starters, My Boy Jack is clearly the third best on paper. But Kumin admits he will be pulling hardest for that one as he has more ties to the winner of the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. than the other two. It's not that Kumin won't spend money at a yearling sale. It's just that he is only looking for bargains. "I have done a lot of work on the data and I think that (buying at the sales) is a pretty tough game," he said. "I try to know what I know and know what I don't know and I feel that if I went to a sale and spent multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars on multiple horse I am going to lose financially in the long run. I might hit on one every now and then, but in general it is difficult to have that be financially viable over time. Some people are really good at it and I have no edge over them." That's why Kumin has relied on Keith Desormeaux, the trainer of My Boy Jack, to buy a few yearlings for him. Desormeaux has an excellent record of purchasing horses for minimal amounts that go on to great success. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 9 • THETDN.COM SUNDAY • APRIL 22, 2018 "Keith had a great track record, so I let him buy me horses and if he continues training as he is now, he=ll run the best race of I split those with one other group," Kumin said. "But he does his life.@ have a budget." ">Jack is my sentimental favorite for all the reasons I've already $ Flameaway (Scat Daddy), Free Drop Billy (Union Rags) and discussed," Kumin said. "A win by him is what would make me Promises Fulfilled (Shackleford) kicked off the exclusive training happiest." period for Kentucky Derby contenders from 7:30-7:45 a.m. Logically, he knows My Boy Jack may be up against it, which Saturday with five-furlong workouts at Churchill Downs. could be the case for 18 other Derby starters who will be facing Flameaway, winner of the GIII Sam F. Davis S. and runner-up in a horse with immense potential in Justify. the Blue Grass, breezed five furlongs in company in 1:00.40 "I can come up with a scenario where none of them win and a (12/52). AI was really happy with his breeze this morning,@ said scenario where any one of the three could win," he said. "As far assistant trainer Nick Tomlinson, who is overseeing trainer Mark as Justify goes, I haven't had a lot of horses with Bob Baffert. I Casse=s string at Churchill Downs. AHe=s doing really well with went to the [GI] Santa Anita Derby with my son and spent some the track at Churchill and he recorded one of his best breezes time around Bob.