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STATSBIOS
Breeders' Cup Bios
Search the Breeders' Cup biography database for complete bio listings of participants and horses that are on the road to the Cup. Biographical information is updated regularly, statistical information is updated daily.



Starlight Stables
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  • Owner(s): Laurie and Jack Wolf
  • Born: Jack, May 4, 1949, Louisville, Ky., Laurie, Jan. 30, 1967, DeRidder, La.
  • Residence: Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Louisville, Ky.
  • Family: Children Elinor and Jake ... Jack also has children Lauren and Bryan from a prior marriage
  • Education: Jack earned a master’s degree in economics at Murray State University in southwestern Kentucky, attending on a football scholarship ... He went on to teach for seven years as a graduate assistant at Murray State and at Gainesville College near Atlanta ... Laurie graduated from McNeese State University with a degree in communications and theater.
  • Professional Background: Jack was a hedge fund manager with Columbus Partners in Atlanta before retiring to spend more time with his racing interests
  • Web site: www.starlightracing.com
  • Racing Background: Growing up, both Jack and Laurie were fans of racing. “I’ve been interested in horses for some time, and when I had some money from the stock market that I wanted to diversify, I gave it a shot,” Jack said
  • Breeding/Racing Operation:

    Starlight Racing’s stable has been led in 2009 by Take the Points, who has emerged as one of the top sophomore turf horses … Since being switched to the grass following his off-the-board effort in the G1 Preakness Stakes, Take the Points has gone on to score back-to-back triumphs in the G1 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park and the G1 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont … Purchased for $160,000 at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale, Take the Points also finished second in the G3 Sham Stakes this season and third in the G2 Virginia Derby…"I think this horse is really finding himself now and learning how to run and learning how to finish off a race," trainer Todd Pletcher said....Take the Points is not Breeders' Cup eligible and would have to be supplemented into the event...Though the Wolfs have been in the business for less than ten years, they have already enjoyed a good deal of Breeders’ Cup success as all but one of their starters have finished in the top three…In partnership with Johns Martin and Paul Saylor, Starlight campaigned champion Ashado, winner of seven G1 races including the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (now Ladies' Classic) ... The Wolfs also owned Grade 1 winner Octave, who ran second in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and third in the 2007 Distaff, in partnership with Donald and Barbara Lucarelli … Days after Ashado capped her career with a third-place finish in the 2005 Distaff, she sold for a then-record $9 million to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum at the 2005 Keeneland November breeding stock sale…One year later, Octave was also purchased by Sheikh Mohammed for $4 million at the 2006 Fasig-Tipton November sale … Looking for something to do together, the Wolfs got into the game at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale, buying six horses … Among them was a $97,000 Ohio-bred later named Harlan's Holiday who rewarded them with wins in the 2002 G1 Florida Derby and G1 Blue Grass Stakes as well as the 2003 G1 Donn Handicap … Harlan's Holiday was their first Breeders' Cup starter, finishing ninth in the 2002 Classic … Harlan's Holiday retired to stallion duty in 2004 at Airdrie Stud with earnings of more than $3.6 million … The Wolfs maintain a percentage of Harlan's Holiday and regularly support him with their mares… Used Barry Berkelhammer of Abracadabra Farms as their bloodstock agent, regularly purchasing about a dozen horses at the major yearling sales, until Berkelhammer and Wolf parted ways in early 2009. … “You could say it was the fault of Harlan's Holiday because if he hadn't done so well we never could have afforded this,” Jack Wolf said … After enjoying unsurpassed success with the horses they campaigned under the Starlight Stables banner, the Wolfs and Lucarellis recommitted themselves to racing by forming a new entity, Starlight Racing, in the summer of 2007 ... With the hope of securing more of racing's most prestigious trophies, their business plan calls for investing in higher quality yearlings by joining with a select few new partners who also want to compete at the upper levels of the sport ... “Being partners with Donald and winning these races, doesn’t go unappreciated by us,” Jack said … The Starlight/Lucarelli partnership currently has approximately 20 two-year-olds and seven three-year-olds in training .... The partnership also campaigned Monba, winner of the 2008 G1 Blue Grass Stakes…. Monba was retired in July 2009 due to an injury to his left hind leg... The majority of Starlight's horses are trained by four-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher .... Jack used to pilot his own plane, which he and Laurie used “to fly to the races.”  


NOTE: Bio stats include North American and selected international races. Click here to view selected international race list. Biographies on jockeys, trainers and owners are from the Breeders' Cup World Championships events from 2001 through 2009, and are intended as informational resources. Biographies will be updated if an individual is again a participant in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Biographies are available for most horses appearing in the top 100 money earnings list, and/or for those who are frequently making headlines in the news starting with the 2006 Triple Crown season.