[Kasept]

Details on 32yo Dan Schaefer who's using PWC as an opportunity to jump into the game.

http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com...s-lofty-goals/

Already a racing fan, Schafer’s interest in the sport went up several levels in 2000 when, at just 16, he made a Derby Week visit to Churchill Downs and ran into Bob Baffert.

“I just went there and was blown away by the tradition of the place, blown away by the spires, by just seeing something I had seen on television the previous 10 years of my life watching the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “I ran into Bob Baffert. I was just a 16-year-old kid and just knew him from seeing him win previous Triple Crown races. I was walking up to the front gate and I see this white Jaguar pass by with this man with shiny white hair and I said to the people I was with, ‘I’m pretty sure that is Bob Baffert.’ I just waited a couple minutes, he got out of car and I walked up to him, shook his hand and introduced myself as a fan. He took a picture with me. He was extremely nice and that’s one of reasons that experience was so special to me.”

Sixteen years later, Schafer had become a successful businessman and had the financial means to get involved in the sport. Yet, he wanted to be careful and wait for the right opportunity. When the creation of the Pegasus World Cup was announced, he said he didn’t have a moment’s hesitation about writing out the $1 million check to secure a spot–even though he still doesn’t have any horses.

“Over the last four or five years, I knew I wanted to get into the game, but was cautious about the way I did it,” he said. “I knew when I jumped into the game I wanted to make a pretty strong investment and that I had a few options. I could go to auctions, maybe buy some yearlings, maybe some 2 year old in training, maybe make a $500,000, $1-million investment and see what could happen from there. Then this Pegasus World Cup was created and jumping into the sport through that option seemed like a no-brainer.”