With Win Under Belt, Icon Racing Eyes Big Weekend

When Jayson Werth and Ken Kuykendall got together with the idea for putting together a syndicate, they wanted to be able to lower the barrier of entry to the industry while creating lasting, iconic memories with friends and families. This weekend at Saratoga Race Course, their Icon Racing Stable will have a showcase of how well that mission appears to have come together. One month ago, the syndicate hit a home run with their first starter, Sacred Goddess. The 2-year-old filly, who Icon co-owns with Team Penney Racing and Peter Dorsman Racing, battled gamely to break her maiden at the Spa July 17 and is back Aug. 17 as the syndicate's first stakes starter in the $150,000 Bolton Landing Stakes. READ: Werth's Icon Racing Hits Home Run With First Starter However, she'll have to wait in the on-deck circle as her teammate, Hero Declared, comes up to the plate for his career debut in Saratoga's seventh race Aug. 16. Both horses are well thought of in their respective races; Hero Declared is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and Sacred Goddess a 9-2 third choice. Although one never wants to get their expectations up too high, there's a real chance these partners, many of whom are new to the game, will get to start their ownership careers 3-for-3. "A lot of this feels a little too good to be true, but it is," said Icon Racing partner Ann Marie Achille. "It is exciting to be a part of it, but then also you know that this is not normal." A partner with Kuykendall at the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the last two decades, Achille gradually learned about the industry through Kuykendall's excitement and passion for it. Achille had never considered horse ownership before, but once she learned of the opportunity that Kuykendall was involved in, she knew it was a brilliant idea. As Sacred Goddess thundered down the stretch to her maiden victory, Achille was in a Publix parking lot in Florida celebrating with her mother as they watched on her iPad. With that thrill of victory in the first attempt, she was hooked even more. "It exceeds expectations," Achille said about her experience as an owner. "There's a lot of fun that just happens along the way. Should your horse win, that's just like icing and sprinkles." Another Icon partner, Brian Boulerice, ordered extra icing and sprinkles for the victory as he was present in the Saratoga grandstand and celebrated in the winner's circle. Boulerice, who works in the financial services space as part of a global alternative asset manager, is golfing buddies with Werth, a retired MLB All-Star and World Series champion. A fan of the sport since college, he had considered joining syndicates before but had never felt like he found the one for him until Icon came. This time around, Boulerice will be joined by several other partners, including Achille, to celebrate this monumental weekend for the group. He compared the experience with Icon to riding a bus full of strangers to Saratoga versus a bus full of friends and family. "Both modes of transportation are going to get you where you want to go, but the experience and the memories are just entirely different," Boulerice said. "I'm very excited to be with the other Icon partners, to be back at Saratoga." Although many of the members first met through Icon, they have formed a tight-knit community in a short time. Given that most members are newer to the sport, Achille said their chat on the app GroupMe has turned into a safe space to connect and help each other learn. Hero Declared, Sacred Goddess Ready to Roll That GroupMe is also where some of the earliest buzz around Hero Declared first developed. Icon picked up the son of Maclean's Music this spring for $575,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. In addition to his pedigree bringing excitement—his Midnight Lute dam, Wild at Midnight, being a full sister to grade 3 winner Wild Bout Hilary—his size and physique led to rave reviews among the partners. "He looks like a monster," Achille said. "He got folks psyched up about it. There was just a rally around him. Somehow, very quickly, that name surfaced. From early on, he was a horse the group was excited about." Their excitement was further amplified when their colt also received high praise from those who had been around the block and not just hopeful new owners, including bloodstock agents Legion Bloodstock and trainer Whit Beckman. "From (training at) Keeneland to now, he's done everything so effortlessly in the morning," Beckman said. "For a 2-year-old, he acts like an older horse. We know he's got a ton of ability that we've seen in the morning, and he's just got to put it together in the afternoon." Beckman has been around plenty of nice 2-year-olds during his time working for Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown, not to mention the two Kentucky Derby (G1) starters he's trained himself in the last two years. Although he's doing his best to keep everyone's expectation in check, he does recognize some of the qualities of a top horse. Although not directly comparing the colt to 2010 champion 2-year-old male and super sire Uncle Mo, who Beckman worked with on the Pletcher team, the trainer said the way they separated themselves from other 2-year-olds early on is similar. "I saw, when Uncle Mo was a 2-year-old, he would work and everything he did, he just did it so easily," Beckman said. "He just made all the other 2-year-olds look not necessarily bad, but just made himself look really good. "This horse (Hero Declared) has continued to do the same thing. I actually put him in a position where he works mostly with older horses now." While Hero Declared is still looking to prove himself on the track, Sacred Goddess already has. Trainer Jeremiah Englehart was pleased with how the Kantharos filly mentally improved from her first racing experience, where she stalked the pacesetters and made a firm rally to win by a neck, and believes she can take a step forward in stakes company. "It's going to be a challenge for her, but I think she's up to it," Englehart said about the filly. "She's a filly that really enjoys competing and seems like she has all the ability to fit there. She's put on some good weight, she's done everything right in her training. She's definitely earned this chance in this race." Englehart said getting the first win for Icon last month took off a lot of pressure for him and everyone involved with the team, allowing them an early celebration. "(Werth's) concept of horse ownership is making it about the experience," Englehart said. "His overall passion for the sport, his competitiveness of it, mixed with his overall passion for the animal; I couldn't be happier to be training for such a great team." Icon Ready for Busy Weekend Icon is set to have around 15 people on-site at Saratoga for a weekend that will act as a mini celebration of what they have already achieved in addition to their hopes to win again. The partners will have the opportunity to take in the track during the morning training hours and visit the barns, an experience Boulerice had a taste of when Sacred Goddess debuted. Even as a long-time fan of the sport, that opportunity changed his experience. As a golfer, he compared the experience to the difference between attending The Masters versus actually getting to play on Augusta National Golf Course. "You could say you've been a part of horse racing and you love horse racing, but when you a chance to do it the way Icon's done it, there's a big difference," Boulerice said. "It was an unbelievable experience and memory." He's excited to now watch his partners experience the same thing as they attend as owners for the first time. "It's like going to Fenway Park, but then bringing your son or your dad and they've never been," he said. "To see somebody else experience what you've experienced, it's contagious." Achille has had a few chances to experience racing behind the scenes already, including joining Werth and Kuykendall at this year's Kentucky Derby, but she highly anticipates any opportunity to return. "It brings the whole sport to life. It's not just the athletes on the field, there is a whole infrastructure behind them that we get to learn about," she said. "Visiting the barns and being able to see our horses—or anyone's horses—in person is not something us urban girls typically do. Being able to interact with the trainer for a minute, things like that, are really special." Englehart said his barn keeps an open-door policy to try and give all his owners this unique experience. "It's not like a football game where you're sitting in the stands," Englehart said. "Here, you're in the locker room. You're talking to the players. At least in my barn, I want everyone to come out and have a good time." Of course, the experience is great, but having the experience and winning is even better. "Last time I checked, there's no rules against trying to win them all," Boulerice said. "That's what we're trying to do, and either way we're going to have an unbelievable time being a part of it."