Travis Kelce lands 1st win with racehorse whose name is inspired by Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce has scored his first number one as a racehorse owner with the unbelievably appropriately named horse Swift Delivery. The star tight end for Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs has grown into a worldwide celebrity through his relationship with billionaire singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
Last May after attending the Kentucky Derby for the first time he agreed to join an ownership group for the first time. At Churchill Downs, he was a guest of the Zoldan family who have stakes in racehorses with Team Valor International, one of the world 's most successful ownership syndicates who won the Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom.
The stable has won big races all over the world and in Europe the current star is Facteur Cheval. Through his friendship with the Zoldan family, Kelce took a stake in a horse trained in Toronto, Canada.
Explaining the link-up to Mirror Racing at the time, Team Valor principal Barry Irwin said: 'Travis Kelce is not just an athlete, he's transcended that. He has been a guest host on Saturday Night Live. He's just a multi-talented guy and very charismatic.
'So how the whole thing came about is through Bruce Zoldan, who is my most active and loyal client. He operates the largest retailer of recreational fireworks, Phantom Fireworks, in the US. His son Alex is a really close friend of Travis Kelce.
'Bruce attends the Kentucky Derby every year and he invited Travis Kelce this year and that's where I met him. We talked about buying into one of the horses.
'I'd been trying to buy a horse but couldn't find anything suitable. Then this one just happened to come along with the name Swift Delivery. It's kind of an amazing coincidence.'
He continued: 'Mark Casse the trainer owned him with another client who got frustrated when he didn't show anything. They put him in a digital sale and Gary Barber bought him for $55,000 [ £41,000] and the first time he ran it, it won by 16 ½ lengths.
'Gary Barber, who I own a lot of horses with, knew I was looking for a horse to buy for Travis, and we worked out a deal to buy a quarter of the horse.'
Swift Delivery has run five times since Kelce became involved, finishing second in the Toronto Cup in August then winning an allowance race at Woodbine on Sunday, collecting a first prize of £25,000.
Swift Delivery's success could help bring more followers to racing with the New York Racing Association already floating the idea of the horse running at the prestigious Saratoga meet this summer.
Irwin added: 'Travis is very popular, there is the connection with Taylor Swift who is as popular as it gets. I think it's a great thing for racing because we need all the positive publicity we can get.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
High octane: 4 most explosive offensive players in the NFL
Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson is an obvious answer but is he the lone quarterback on the list? Does Tyreek Hill make the cut after a down year by his standards. How many wide receivers and running backs make the list? Here are the four most explosive offensive players in the NFL: Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson Ravens coach John Harbaugh said this offseason that Jackson will be the highest-paid player in football when he signs his next contract. There's no doubt the two-time MVP deserves that distinction. Jackson is coming off a season in which he led NFL in passer rating (119.6), set career highs in passing yards (4,172) and touchdown passes (41), and became the first quarterback in league history with at least 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards (915). The Ravens are once again on the short list of contenders this year. And Jackson and company are motivated after a disappointing showing this past postseason. "We're going to bounce back," Jackson told reporters this offseason. "We'll come back and I feel like we're gonna have vengeance on our mind." Eagles running back Saquon Barkley The Eagles rewarded Barkley with a two-year, $41.2 million contract extension after his superb year in Philly. He's the first running back in NFL history to earn more than $20 million per year. Barkley's 2,005 rushing yards were the eighth most in a regular season in NFL history. And to top it off, he became the league's all-time single-season, including playoffs, rushing leader during the Eagles Super Bowl 59 win. Barkley compiled an NFL-high 46 runs of 10-plus yards. More: Special. Seismic. Singular: Meet the 4 most explosive defensive NFL players The Eagles core offensive players are all set to return, including four returning starters along the O-line, so expect Barkley to have another stellar season in Philadelphia. "It's very obvious when you watch the tape how good of a player he is, right. But the things that he has that he brings to our football team as far as his leadership, his work ethic. He's an awesome teammate. Those are the things that make him very special," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said, via the team's official website. Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs Good things tend to happen when the Lions give Gibbs the football. Gibbs had a Lions single-season record and NFL-high 20 touchdowns from scrimmage last season. He became only the fourth player in league history to produce a season with at least 1,900 yards from scrimmage, 16 rushing TDs and four receiving TDs in 2024. Entering 2025, the versatile running back is tied-for-first in total touchdowns (31) and ranked third in scrimmage yards (3,190) and rushing yards (2,357) in Lions history through two-career seasons. Gibbs has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. He's the first Lions running back to do that since Barry Sanders. He's averaged 5.5 yards per carry to begin his career. "I feel like last year was more of a breakout season for (Gibbs)," Sanders said of Gibbs this offseason. "He eclipsed 1,000 yards. Just the type of exciting, dynamic plays that he's able to make. His speed and his vision." Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase Chase earned the receiving triple crown last season. He was rewarded when the Bengals re-signed him to a massive extension this offseason, making him the NFL's highest-paid wide receiver. Joe Burrow and Chase have one of the league's most potent connections. Chase has 395 catches for 5,425 receiving yards and 46 TDs in four seasons. His total receiving yards and receiving TDs are each the third-most in a player's first four seasons in NFL history. The wideout leads the NFL in touchdown receptions of 40 or more yards (18), 50 or more yards (13) and 60 or more yards (12) since the start of his 2021 rookie season, per the Bengals. There's no sign of Burrow and Chase slowing down. The Bengals have both signed through the 2029 season. "(Chase) is a special player," Burrow said to reporters last season. "Any way that you can get him the ball, he makes plays." Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Travis Kelce reveals how Travis Hunter could get exposed in the NFL amid Jaguar rookie's two-way plans
Travis Kelce believes NFL teams will ruthlessly target Travis Hunter in a bid to 'get him tired' if he plays both offense and defense for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Hunter is gearing up for his rookie season in Jacksonville after being drafted No. 2 overall by the Jaguars back in April. The Heisman Trophy winner, who got married to Leanna Lenee this offseason, got his hands on that coveted award due to his breathtaking versatility as both a wide receiver and a cornerback in the college ranks. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen has suggested Hunter will be a two-way player for his team in the coming season, revealing last month that he was practicing on both sides of the ball. Yet according to Kelce, lining the 22-year-old up on defense could backfire when teams 'run deep balls at him all day' to wear him out. During an appearance on the Bussin With The Boys podcast, the Kansas City Chiefs legend was first asked if he thinks Hunter will be successful in the NFL, to which he replied: 'Hell yes, 100 percent. World-class athlete.' Travis Kelce says NFL teams will ruthlessly target Travis Hunter if he plays defense for the Jags However, when asked about the prospect of him playing both sides, Kelce continued: 'Both sides? See that's the thing... I don't know how they're gonna divvy it out, cause teams are gonna be going after him. They're gonna try and make his day miserable. 'If he plays corner they're gonna run deep balls at him all day, they're gonna run the wide receivers to take off on him all day, just to try and get him tired. Why wouldn't you just attack him that way?' Kelce has previously offered up words of warning for Hunter amid his ambitions to play both sides in the NFL. On an episode of his New Heights podcast in March, the Chiefs tight end said: 'I just think that mentality [playing both sides] - it can wear a guy out. I'm not saying that he can't do it because I was blown away by what he could do in college in terms of playing every single down. 'If he is going to do that, I think it's smarter to scheme it up to where you know you're not putting him in a vulnerable position to get tired out faster.' Travis' older brother Jason then read a quote from Hunter's coach at Colorado - Deion Sanders - which said the plan was for the rookie to play both positions or else NFL teams should not draft him. Travis then threw his support behind Hunter when he replied: 'I think he's proven that he needs to play on both sides of the ball.' He continued: 'I think it's easier for him to be on the field all the time as a defensive player and then offensively coming in on certain plays. I think that is so much easier... I think he could be more influential. 'What's the point in certain run downs when you know it's run to have him on the field going in there, scooping out a safety. Could he do it? Yeah. Could I get another guy to do it? Probably. 'He's a f****n' all-around athlete, dude. You can put him anywhere on the football field. You can give him the reverses, you can do anything with him on the football field... 'When you watch him run, you're like "yeah, we should probably throw him the ball."'
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Former Steelers WR Chase Claypool plans NFL comeback
July 6 - Veteran wide receiver Chase Claypool, who hasn't played in the NFL since 2023, is confident he will be able resume his career after recovering from a toe injury. Claypool, 26, signed with the Buffalo Bills last offseason but missed the 2024 campaign due to the injury he suffered last August. He was released by the Bills with an injury settlement. The four-year pro, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2020 draft, wrote on social media on Friday that he is "the strongest and fastest I've ever been" following a full offseason of recovery and rehab. "I tore a ligament and a tendon in my second toe and have been rehabbing, working out, and recovering every day for the past year," Claypool posted on Instagram. "I am back to being the strongest and fastest I've ever been and couldn't be more excited to step back out on the field and let my actions speak for themselves. "I deeply and truly believe that the pieces will align, and I will work my way into the position to show off what's been suppressed these last two years." In four seasons with the Steelers (2020-22), Chicago Bears (2022-23) and Miami Dolphins (2023), Claypool recorded 175 catches for 2,261 yards and 13 touchdowns in 58 games (32 starts). --Field Level Media
