Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) warms up before an NFL preseason football game against the Detroit Lions Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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.
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“It’s very exciting,” Irwin told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I met him at the Kentucky Derby and got to spend some time with him and stuff, and we talked about horses and everything. When this horse came to light and it was owned by one of my partners already, with the name I figured this has got to be a no-brainer.”
Irwin said the horse was not named after Swift — just “a total coincidence.” He added Kelce has been a part owner for about a month and on Tuesday gave permission to reveal his involvement.
Kelce 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.
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Swift Delivery has won his past two starts, each at Woodbine Racetrack in 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 said by phone Tuesday. “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. Irwin said partner Gary Barber wanted to enter the horse in a more lucrative, $3.2 million race at Kentucky Downs before agreeing to this path instead.