The Pack is Back Saturday in Green Bay, Wis., and Hot Springs. Paul Farr has a strong rooting interest in both places.
Farr, 54, is a self-described mega fan of the Green Bay Packers, who host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Divisional playoffs Saturday night. Farr also owns more than 100 horses, mostly in partnerships, including two entered Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn – Warrior's Battle in the fifth race and Perfect Happiness in the eighth race, the $150,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters.
Farr's game plan? Watch the races on a huge outdoor television from the “tailgate patio” of his townhouse in Green Bay's Titletown district, then walk a block to iconic Lambeau Field to watch the Packers.
“It's the same spot that we watched Perfect Happiness' victory the last game I was home for, last game or the game before, I forget,” Farr said. “Everybody was cheering her on. She had like three seconds in a row and she broke one. We're indoctrinating as many people as we can into horse racing.”
Farr resides in Center Valley, Pa., about 50 miles north of Philadelphia, but he's originally from Green Bay and began attending Packers games as a child. Farr's home is now a shrine to the team, with approximately 2,000 square feet in his basement remodeled to mimic the Packers locker room at Lambeau Field.
Among Farr's most prized pieces of Packers memorabilia are game-used jerseys of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Hutson and cleats worn by player/coach Curly Lambeau, who co-founded the team in 1919.
Farr also said he has two rings from Super Bowl XXXI – Green Bay beat New England 35-21 in 1997 – an NFC championship ring from that season, team-themed watches and pendants from the 1920s and 1930s and team-signed footballs from the 1930s.
“Everybody that collects, like, fights for it,” said Farr, whose primary occupation is funding start-up companies. “You have that: 'Well, this is what I have. Like, I can one up you.' It's that kind of thing. There's a known universe of people that kind of collect it like that.”
Farr's collection of horses is growing, too. After dabbling in ownership roughly a decade ago, Farr began investing more heavily in 2019, initially as a partner (fractional ownership) through the nationally prominent Ten Strike Racing of co-founders Marshall Gramm and Arkansas native Clay Sanders.
Farr was already friends with Pennsylvania owner Michael Caruso, who, in partnership, campaigned 2018 and 2020 Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl. During a trip to Churchill Downs, Farr said he wanted to see Monomoy Girl at trainer Brad Cox's barn. That meeting led to an introduction to Liz Crow, who is Ten Strike's racing manager, and eventually Gramm and Sanders. Cox is also one of Ten Strike's trainers.
Multiple stakes winners Whereshetoldmetogo and Grade 3 winner Lady Rocket were among the first horses Farr had with Ten Strike. Farr is now involved in numerous other partnerships, campaigning horses with the likes of Sol Kumin, West Point Thoroughbreds and Staton Flurry of Hot Springs.
Farr also races horses under his Titletown banner – Green Bay's nickname is “Titletown” after winning an NFL record 13 world championships – and said he owns pieces of more than 120 overall.
“From 2 ½ percent to 100 percent,” said Farr, who also solely owns 16 broodmares, including Is It Gold, a half-sister to champion Swiss Skydiver. “It's rare that I buy 100 percent. There's only like five or six of those.”
Titletown Racing Stables already has been represented by four winners at the 2021-2022 Oaklawn meeting – Perfect Happiness (Dec. 12 allowance sprint), Warrior's Battle (Dec. 5 maiden-claiming sprint and Jan. 7 starter/optional claiming sprint) and Magnolia Midnight (Jan. 15 allowance sprint).
Flurry co-owns Perfect Happiness, who is trained by Cox. Other partners in the Dallas Stewart-trained Magnolia Midnight include West Point Thoroughbreds. Warrior's Battle is a 3-year-old half-sister to Warrior's Charge, the millionaire multiple Grade 3 winner for Cox and Ten Strike. Farr doesn't have a financial stake in Warrior's Charge, but he was at Oaklawn for the horse's victory in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) in 2020.
Warrior's Battle, co-owned by Ten Strike, was purchased for $50,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The daughter of Khozan, also trained by Cox, carried Farr's Green Bay-themed silks Jan. 7 and was scheduled to be sold about a week later at Keeneland's January Horses of All Ages Sale before being withdrawn.
“We didn't believe that that was the best way to optimize value,” Farr said. “Like, she had more to prove. She looked like she handled that last group well.”
Warrior's Battle is the 3-1 program favorite for Saturday's fifth race, a starter/optional claimer at 1 mile, which will mark her two-turn debut. Perfect Happiness (8-1) will be making her stakes debut in the 6-furlong American Beauty. The Packers, meanwhile, are 5 ½-point favorites.
“I'm hoping it will go well against San Francisco, so we'll see,” Farr said.
The post Perfect Happiness: Owner Paul Farr Has More Than Horses To Root For On Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
