Three-time Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has bought an ownership stake in a racehorse named Swift Delivery.
Team Valor International founder and CEO Barry Irwin announced Tuesday that Kelce and the Zoldan family recently acquired a significant share of the 3-year-old gelding.
Kelce has been dating pop star Taylor Swift for roughly a year, appearing at several of her concerts during “The Eras Tour.” Swift has been a prominent fan at many of Kelce’s NFL games over that time.
It was not immediately clear if the horse was named after Swift or if the involvement is coincidental.
Kelce attended the Kentucky Derby with the Zoldans earlier this year. He is friends with Phantom Fireworks CEO Bruce Zoldan’s son, Alex. The Zoldan family has a long history in horse racing, including an interest in 2011 Derby winner Animal Kingdom.
Kelce is the latest professional athlete to get involved in the sport in an ownership capacity. Retired World Series winner Jayson Werth is a partial owner of Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, and hockey player Erik Johnson has had shares of horses, some named after teammates and friends around the NHL, for several years.
Swift Delivery has won his past two starts, each at Woodbine Racetrack outside Toronto, after finishing no better than third in his first six. Trainer Mark Casse was wowed by the horse’s first victory and said “the sky could be the limit for him.”
“He’s a horse that we always thought a lot of, and he just didn’t perform — and now he’s performing,” Casse told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “This horse is good. He’s good right now, and he has the potential to go on and do big things.”
Swift Delivery, ridden by jockey Patrick Husbands, is set to make his next start Saturday in a 1-mile race at Woodbine.
___
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
