NFL star Travis Kelce won big for the first time as owner of racehorse Swift Delivery at the weekend.
The Kansas City Chiefs star bought a stake in the four-year-old last August, in partnership with owners Gary Barber, Team Valor International, Bruce Zoldan, and Steven Rocco.
And Swift Delivery, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, clinched the third victory of its career – the first since Kelce came onboard – at Woodbine on Sunday.
The gelding swept to a two-length score in a second-level allowance contest at the Toronto track.
Kelce joined the ownership last summer just ahead of Swift Delivery’s debut in the Toronto Cup, where he finished second.
After the news broke, many fans quickly joined the dots between the horse and the tight end’s girlfriend Taylor Swift.
Travis Kelce won big for the first time as owner of racehorse Swift Delivery at the weekend
Fans joined the dots between the horse’s name and the tight end’s girlfriend Taylor Swift
The Kansas City Chiefs star bought a stake in the four-year-old gelding last August
Many speculated over whether the horse was actually named after the popstar, and Kelce addressed the rumors during an episode of his New Heights podcast in September.
‘I bought a horse, man! How about that? Old “Swift Delivery”,’ he said to brother Jason, before being asked if the name prompted the interest.
‘You know when the stars align?,’ Travis continued. ‘It just feels good to jump on board.’
The NFL superstar was then asked how the purchase unfolded, with Kelce never having previously been involved in the world of horse-racing.
‘You have really good friends that are good people, that are into horse racing,’ he explained. ‘Bruce and Alex Zoldan. I’ve known Alex for around 10 years plus now, since I’ve been in the league, fellow Ohio-an. They’re an awesome family.
‘I’ve had so much fun going to events with them, and sure enough they were at the Super Bowl, they invited me to the [Kentucky] Derby this year, and I was just like, “man it’d be fun to get involved and see one of your horses in a race, that seems like it’d be a fun thing to be a part of.” They had a horse that won [the Derby] in the early 2000s, called Magic Kingdom.
‘They asked me if I wanted to jump in on a three-year-old they had, and the name made sense to team up with this one, it being “Swift Delivery”.
‘What’s cool is, it’s a different style of horse, some make a fast start and try and lead the pack, and then the others are the finishers, the ones that come around the last turn or the last two turns…’I just got on board because it was fun and I could team up with some good friends of mine. I like the ran Swift Delivery ran, it’s more of a finishing horse, hits its top speed [at the end] and saves its juice.’
