Cruel Intention taking Nexus Racing Club to a new level

As someone who grew up in Kentucky, I’m used to being surrounded by horse country and having a racetrack nearby. But when I left the Bluegrass in July of 2017 for a year of graduate school in Syracuse, N.Y., heading to the track meant a quick day trip outside of two-week break from classes during the Saratoga meet.

Before moving North, Dare Sutton reached out to me about Nexus Racing Club, a way for young adults to experience ownership and network with industry leaders. The club launched in June that summer after college students Sutton, Sam Bussanich and Sophie Shore put the idea together during Keeneland’s fall meet, and I joined a couple months later. Nexus became a way for me to stay connected to the industry.

In its second year, Nexus grew to more than 60 members between ages 17-30, witnessed 15 starters, boosted the roster to six horses and experienced its first stakes victory with LNJ Foxwoods’ and Jungle Racing, LLC’s Cruel Intention. The club has experienced both highs and lows, with horses winning races, as well as being sidelined or retired -- but Cruel Intention’s $200,000 Golden State Juvenile win put Nexus’ name out there as the co-founders strive to attract more young people to the sport.

“I feel like if you’re a casual fan or maybe you work in the industry, but you don’t really have a connection to owners or the behind-the-scenes of all the decision making or the journey of the horse, I think Nexus is offering that,” Sutton said, “and showing what it’s like going on this journey and seeing what it takes to develop a racehorse.”

I followed along as the Nexus racehorse roster evolved. Cruel Intention is the current horse partnered with LNJ Foxwoods, but before him came the filly Mo Buckets.

Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm, who helped guide the Nexus co-founders and has partnered on horses from the start, made the connection with LNJ Foxwoods’ Jaime Roth, gauging her interest in the club. Roth had grown up playing lacrosse, soccer and basketball, among other sports, and watched the Triple Crown series. It wasn’t until Rachel Alexandra came along that she decided to get into horse racing, too.

“I just love that she was a filly, just always competitive and beating the boys,” Roth said.

Roth also noted that any industry relies on an influx of new people to keep going. So when Nexus was presented to her, she felt it was worth getting involved.

“If I could help other young women that want to start something that’s going to be good for the game,” she said, “then I figured why not.”

To make Nexus affordable for young adults, the co-founders settled on the club option with an annual fee. Instead of buying into a horse, established owners allow Nexus to lease a horse and keep them informed on decisions. Although there is no financial gain, there’s also no ongoing expense. Members, however, still get the benefit of networking with industry leaders and watching a horse run as an owner.

When Nexus launched, the club partnered with LNJ Foxwoods on Mo Buckets, an Uncle Mo filly who was 2 at the time. She showed promise, but as Nexus members learned firsthand, it’s not always a quick path to the racetrack and the winner’s circle. 

“We thought she was extremely talented,” Roth said. “Honestly, when she was a 2-year-old, we thought she was our Del Mar Debutante winner.”

A series of setbacks followed with Mo Buckets. When things started running smoothly again at the end of 2017, Mo Buckets was stabled at San Luis Rey Downs when the Lilac Fire struck. Although she escaped without major problems, she reinjured herself and was backed off from training. When she didn’t seem 100 percent, she was shipped to WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., where it was stop and go.

“I just felt that I really wanted to give them a great opportunity of a horse and I just didn’t know if it was going to be Mo Buckets,” Roth said. “The joke at the time was that we should just change her name to Mo Time.”

Part of the experience is getting a horse to its first race, oftentimes a winding path. Roth has dealt with multiple setbacks as part of LNJ Foxwoods. While the roadblocks with Mo Buckets weren't ideal, she saw them as learning experiences for the Nexus group.

Sutton also experienced setbacks firsthand prior to Nexus. Her first foray into ownership led her to purchase an interest in Close the Gap, a filly owned by Pocket Aces Racing LLC. Close the Gap won first time out as a 3-year-old in June of 2016, but issues kept that horse from getting to the races earlier, too.

“You hear about being at the Derby, the chances are so astronomical of being there. You realize how tough it is just to get to a race,” Sutton said. “Of course, it can be a little frustrating and kind of let you down when your horse has a setback or whatever, but it’s part of the game. You realize this is real. It’s not just you go to the track and you win.

“It’s this real process of bringing this foal into the world, to training, to the track. I think it’s showing a lot of patience and it’s opened a lot of people’s eyes that this sport can be very challenging. As well as very enjoyable, of course, but it presents a lot of challenges.”

Roth wasn’t sure whether Mo Buckets was going to be the horse for Nexus, but LNJ Foxwoods’ Cruel Intention was working well with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in California. She spoke to her parents, Larry and Nanci Roth, and the Solis/Litt Bloodstock team about instead partnering on Cruel Intention with Nexus. The move is taking the club to a new level.

“I said I think that maybe we should just switch horses and really give them an opportunity at a really good horse,” Roth said. “And he’d be fun. He’s a Cal-bred and maybe for the big races everyone can go out to California. I just thought it was a cool horse, and he is a cool horse. It was really exciting.”

Cruel Intention made his first start Oct. 13 at Santa Anita Park against fellow California-breds going six furlongs. Jockey Drayden Van Dyke was on board, and the pair went straight to the lead. The margin kept widening, and Cruel Intention won by 5 ½ lengths in the end.

He stepped up in the Golden State Juvenile Stakes Nov. 3 when stretching out to seven furlongs. Evin Roman was in the irons, and Cruel Intention faced a tough competitor in the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee Galilean, who set the pace. The two raced neck and neck past the grandstand, and it was Cruel Intention who edged ahead near the wire.

Sutton was at Churchill Downs that afternoon, also Breeders’ Cup Saturday, but made sure to tune in.

“Seeing that, it was just special, and seeing Nexus being able to participate on a stakes level,” Sutton said, “it shows that this sport can be accessible to everyone. That’s something I feel Nexus is offering to the sport, is accessibility.” 

Nexus Racing Club is starting to focus on its 2019 activities, which include race events, farm tours and conference calls with those in the industry.

As for the newly turned 3-year-old Cruel Intention, his path is still being decided, but Roth suspects there is an exciting future in store for him and Nexus, saying, “I think he is going to be a horse to watch out for in 2019.”