One of the best parts of being involved with running a horse racing partnership and a soccer club in the U.S. are the relatively small degrees of separation with other owners and higher-level folks who serve as role models in both sports.
Today is a great example, with rooting wagers in races and soccer games on two different continents. And it's even better when all of these rooting wagers are competing in an open sports systems--or in the case of the USL, an aspirational semi-open sports system.
It's opening day in the Besta deildin men's professional soccer league in Iceland, and the hosts of the first game of the season are Breidablik.
Our soccer club's experiences with Breidablik date back to February 2019, when they rolled out the red carpet for me in the club's boardroom for a comprehensive meeting that covered pretty much ever facet of soccer in Iceland and their club.
They rolled out the red carpet again in April 2022 when a couple of our club's directors returned to visit, and again in April 2023 when our club's 19U Boys and 16U Girls teams pioneered our inaugural Iceland Capstone experience with a 3-game tour.
Iceland is a role model soccer ecosystem, and we're grateful of Breidablik--and administrator Úlfar Hinrikkson in particular--for always welcoming and supporting our club.
Detroit City FC, 4p
I purchased a microshare of ownership in this club in July 2020, when the club was part of the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). And I still get a K-1 tax form every year, and have the opportunity to participate in various events and forums.
The club now plays in the USL Championship, and they're a role model club for an organization that strives to evolve from an amateur club to a professional club.
Donegal Momentum, 5:06p
One of our horse racing partnership's partners Keith Luke has also been involved in Donegal Racing for at least five years, and that horse racing partnership has Donegal Momentum racing in the Carter Stakes a Aqueduct.
Today is Wood Memorial Day at Aqueduct, and my favorite memory at a Thoroughbred track was at the 2022 Wood Memorial. I was invited to attend the race as a guest of Donegal Racing, and I'll always remember serving as the de facto lead blocker for the partnership's managing partner Jerry Crawford as the Donegal contingent made its way to the Winners' Circle to greet the victorious Mo Donegal.
Wood Memorial Day in 2022 was also memorable because I went from being in the Winners' Circle for a Kentucky Derby qualifying race in New York City to sleeping on a cot at Logan Airport in Boston in about an 8-hour span, but that's a story for another day.
Anyway, Crawford, Luke, and Donegal Racing have been a model managing partner, partner, and partnership for a managing partner, partner, and partnership who's trying to combine high aspirations and value, while also being gracious hosts of guests.
Portland Hearts of Pine, 9p
Our club got on the then-USL to Portland bandwagon as soon as co-owners Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Catherine Culley, and Jonathan Culley announced in 2019 their intent to bring a professional soccer club to Maine, and over the years both clubs have had a reciprocal relationship.
Gabe attended our club's Annual General Meeting and kick-off event in 2019, and both he and his club has collaborated with our club on various events over the years.
And I was one of three co-founders of the Hearts of Pine's inaugural supporters' group Dirigo Union in 2020, and even served as a merch model in April 2024 a couple weeks before the public launch of the brand. (It was during this photo shoot that I was informed by the photographer that I have a good "Maine Bod," which is the second-weirdest compliment of my life.)
Anyway, Hearts of Pine and Dirigo Union are both doing great things on and off the field, and fortunately the club and its leadership has consistently lived up to my early belief that they can be the catalyst for positive change in Maine soccer for all of Maine's soccer stakeholders.
Contrabandist, 9:13p + The Donegal Clan, 10:07p
Donegal Racing has two more stakes contenders today, with Contrabandist and The Donegal Clan competing in the Lafayette Stakes and Evangeline Mile Stakes at Evangeline Downs respectively.
One of our partners Keith Luke has developed a good relationship with trainer Dane Noel, who cares for Donegal Racing's Louisiana string of horses, and it's been enjoyable to follow the exploits of a young aspiring trainer competing on one of our country's unsung circuits.
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