Keith Mason and Larry Connolly (photo courtesy The Saporta Report)
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 3, 2024 | There’s interest in the Kentucky Derby for at least one family in Gwinnett. Keith Mason, the son of Ann and Wayne Mason of Snellville, is the co-managing partner of a syndicate which will have two horses running in the Derby on Saturday. Mason and Larry Connolly of Atlanta are co-founders of the West Paces Racing partnership group.
It’s unusual for an Atlanta syndicate to have not one, but two horses in the Kentucky Derby. The partnership’s two horses are Dornoch and Society Man. The odds on Thursday were 20:1 on Dornoch, who will be running out of the No. 1 slot, while the odds on Society Man are 50:1, running out of the 20th post.
The favorite horses are Fierceness at 5-2 (17th slot), and Sierra Leone at 3-1, but running out of the No. 2 post, which has proven to be a jinx position.
A story this week in the Saporta Report gave the background on the two Atlantans getting involved with horse racing. Quoting Maria Saporta, she wrote: “Mason started going to the Kentucky Derby in 1990 when he was campaign manager for Zell Miller’s successful gubernatorial race….Connolly, who grew up in Rye, N.Y., was exposed to horse racing at Belmont Park and Saratoga.
“This interest in horses led, in 2013, for Mason and Connolly getting into the syndication of horse racing.”
Interestingly, it was another Atlantan, the late Cot Campbell, a sports writer and later an advertising executive, who in 1969, put together his first ownership syndicate, which allowed people from all walks of life to buy as little as 2.5 percent of a thoroughbred. He won more than 80 stakes races, including Preakness and Belmont. Along with Jack Burton, Campbell formed Burton-Campbell, one of Atlanta’s leading advertising agencies.
In 2013, Mason bought a piece in the Donegal partnership, which owned Keen Ice, a promising horse. When Connolly joined Mason at Keeneland in 2014, he expressed an interest in joining Donegal. By the fall of 2014, Mason and Connolly were at Churchill Downs when they saw Keen Ice win his first race as a 2-year-old. A crazy ride had begun. In 2015, Keen Ice finished 7th in the Kentucky Derby.
Syndicating horses is not cheap. West Paces has different levels of a minimum buy-in for partners depending on age. Under 40, the minimum is $25,000. Under 50, the minimum is $50,000. For those over 50, the minimum is $100,000. The pair tell people buying into a syndicate to “kiss their money goodbye.” Currently, West Paces owns a part of 23 horses (one 5-year-old, two 4-year-olds, twelve 3-year-olds, and eight 2-year-olds).
Saporta writes of the syndicate co-founders: “No matter what happens on May 4, Mason called the Kentucky Derby ‘the greatest two minutes in sports.’ It’s a huge rush. I call it a major passion.”
“It makes you feel alive,” Connolly says. “I love feeling excited before a race.” He adds: “But for a moneyball outfit to have two horses in the Kentucky Derby in one year rarely happens.”
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