MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A Wisconsin-based horse ownership syndicate is bringing more than just a racehorse to Churchill Downs this week — they're bringing a story rooted in loss, legacy, and love for the sport.
Baytown Dreamer will compete in the Pat Day Mile, one of the undercard races ahead of Saturday's 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby. He runs for Win the Day Racing, a syndicate ownership group based in Wisconsin.
"The biggest thing about Baytown Dreamer is he has a heart, and you can't train that," Sam Hall, founder of Win the Day Racing, said.
The group takes its name from a phrase lived by Joe Trawitzki, a Wisconsin man who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
"They gave him six months to live, and he ended up making it almost two years. And during that period, you know, his love for horses didn't slow down, and we continued to take trips and buy horses and go to races," Hall explained.
Joe passed away on February 10, 2022.
Watch: Kentucky Derby week: Wisconsin syndicate brings heart — and a horse — to Churchill Downs
On the drive home from saying goodbye to their friend, Sam and his sister Katie received an unexpected phone call.
"We got a phone call letting us know that we had a foal born, and it's a boy. And he's a big boy. And so, of course, we knew in that moment that it was Joe looking down at us," Katie Barelmann, co-founder of Win the Day Racing, smiled.
That horse was named Jet Sweep Joe — a nod to Trawitzki's favorite football play — and became the first chapter in Win the Day Racing's story.
"After Joe passed away, we were looking for ways to get new people involved in the sport because that's what Joe wanted to do," Hall explained.
The syndicate model makes ownership more accessible by spreading costs across dozens of people.
"Race horses are really expensive to buy, they're really expensive to take care of. But when you can divide that up over 50 people or 60 people, it becomes more manageable," Hall added.
Many of those syndicate owners are from Wisconsin, and the group has built a giving-back component into its structure from the start.
"Five percent of all of our purses go to the MACC Fund because we view them, even though they live down in Kentucky and are traveling all over to the different tracks, they are our Midwest athletes. And so, we feel it's a really fitting organization for us to support, especially given that Joe himself struggled with cancer," Barelmann said.
Churchill Downs draws a crowd unlike any other in the sport.
"The pomp and circumstance that goes into Derby Day at Churchill Downs with, you know, 170,000 of our closest friends," Hall said.
Barelmann said the Kentucky Derby holds a special place in the culture of horse racing.
"It's the one that everybody gets dressed up. They wear their fancy hats," Barelmann said.
For Win the Day Racing, the pageantry is secondary. Whether Baytown Dreamer crosses the finish line first or not, his connections say his meaning goes far beyond the result.
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