In 2016, celebrity chef, restaurateur and horse owner Bobby Flay bought a share of Creator weeks before the colt won that year’s Belmont Stakes by a head. Now, Flay is adding another calculating ingredient into his racing portfolio, buying an interest in Belmont Stakes contender We the People.

We the People-Bobby Flay
We the People, working out at Belmont Park Saturday, now counts celebrity chef Bobby Flay as one of his owners. (Image; Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso)

Flay joined the ownership group of WinStar Farm, CMNWLTH and Siena Farm five days before Saturday’s 154th Belmont Stakes.

“I’m thrilled to join the We the People Team. I have been an admirer of this colt since he started his career at the beginning of this year,” Flay said in a release announcing the partnership. “I want to thank Lisa and Kenny Troutt of WinStar for giving me this exciting opportunity. Winning the 2016 Belmont with Creator will be a moment that me and my family will never forget.”

Aside from Creator, Flay has done this numerous times. Last year, he bought a share of Caravel before that filly won her first graded stakes race, the Grade 3 Caress at Saratoga. He sold the filly later that year.

Flay has a recipe for this dish

But Flay, a longtime presence at various Breeders’ Cups, also owns and breeds horses himself. He owned 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner More Than Real and last year’s Juvenile Fillies Turf winner, Pizza Bianca. He also owned 2015 Grade 1 Humana Distaff winner America.

Pizza Bianca just won the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Preakness weekend. She’s headed to Ascot for next week’s Royal Ascot meet.

Having the popular Flay as a partner will boost We the People’s already rising stock. It will also likely dump more money into the Constitution progeny from casual bettors. He is expected to be one of the favorites for the Belmont Stakes.

“We appreciate Bobby wanting to partner with us again,” WinStar president, CEO and racing manager Elliott Walden said. “He is great for the business and a great partner.”

When We the People wins, he wins big

We the People, a $230,000 purchase at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, comes in off a 10 1/4-length dissection of the Grade 3 Peter Pan. He clocked a 101 Equibase Speed Figure for that victory in a race considered the Belmont Stakes prep. We the People is 3-for-4, with his three victories coming by a combined 21 lengths.

His only blip in those four races was a dismal seventh in the Arkansas Derby. He was forced wide throughout the race, finishing 13 1/4 lengths behind Cyberknife.

We the People breezed four furlongs in 47.59 last Saturday. His final workout before the Belmont was ninth of 66 at that distance.