Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Chase Chamberlin, Commonwealth Racing (Mage)
/Article by Bill Heller
When Chase Chamberlin, a successful entrepreneur who partnered with Brian Doxtator to create the very successful, Kentucky Derby-winning Commonwealth Racing, was in the second grade in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he said he wanted to be an entrepreneur. “My uncle, John Handelsman, was an entrepreneur,” Chamberlin said. “He had a very successful leasing company.”
Don’t read too much into it. The year before, Chamberlin wrote down orthopedic surgeon. “Another uncle was one,” he said.
In the third grade, he wanted to be a defense attorney. “I watched way too much TV,” he said.
He didn’t know then, but an even earlier passion, riding and loving horses, would ultimately land him, Doxtator and maybe 100 or more of the 382 micro-share Commonwealth partners into the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle when Mage won the 2023 Kentucky Derby. “It was very hard to process,” Chamberlin said. “It was so overwhelming. It was an out-of-body experience, completely surreal.”
But not his first. In 2022, Commonwealth’s first horse it offered on its app, Country Grammer, finished second by a half-length to Emblem Road in the $20 million Grade 1 Saudi Cup. He then won the $12 million Dubai World Cup by 1 ¾ lengths over Hot Rod Charlie. He finished second in the Saudi Cup again this year by three-quarters of a length. Though he was seventh in the Dubai World Cup and fourth in the Grade 1 Gold Cup in his two most recent starts, he’s banked nearly $15 million. “When Country Grammer won the Dubai World Cup, I had $120 in my personal checking account,” Chamberlin said. “He’s a very special horse, an incredibly special horse.”
So was his first Thoroughbred, Katie. Chamberlin was 4 when he climbed aboard her. “She stopped to graze and I slipped down her neck and landed on my feet,” he said. “I was always fearless. I jumped right back up there. The trainer, Ken, said, `I think this is going to stick.’”
Did it ever. He became a two-time national champion in saddle seat riding, a style of English riding designed to show off the high action of various horse breeds which is prevalent in the United States, Canada and South Africa. “I’ve trained national champions, too,” Chamberlin said. “I’ve been very fortunate. It is my greatest love. I tried to quit a couple of times and I’ve been unsuccessful.”
Chamberlin, whose lone sibling Ashley is eight years older, learned to work hard from his parents. “My dad was in a paper mill; my mom owned a hair salon,” he said. “I grew up with extraordinary, hard-working Midwesterners. My mom, a type `A’, was always pushing us to try new things. I was always around adults.”
Ashley and Doxtator were very good friends. Doxtator kind of knew Chamberlin.
Both graduated from Western Michigan, Doxtator in 2004 and Chamberlin in 2012. “I had several show horses when I was choosing a college,” Chamberlin said. “My parents said `You can go to a school in-state and keep the horses or out-of-state and we’ll sell the horses.’”
No brainer. Western Michigan is in Kalamazoo. “Western had a top sales program, out-competing the Ivy League,” he said. “It was an easy decision.”
In college, Chamberlin was the captain of Western Michigan Broncos’ equestrian team. Out of college, Chamberlin helped turn around a home health care company, then did consulting, showing and selling horses for a year before returning to business. He spent four years working in sales and video strategy for one of the world’s largest digital video studios, Epipheo.
A chance meeting with Doxtator in a Barnes and Noble store changed his career and his life. “He hadn’t seen me since I was a little boy,” Chamberlin said. “He sent me a message: `I’ve got an idea I think you will love.’”
Doxtator started his business career working as an analyst in mergers and acquisitions for Legg Mason, an investment banking firm in Baltimore. He then moved to New York to work in corporate group strategy for AIC, a tech and media holding company. Next up was a move cross country to San Francisco, where he joined a new company, Playhaven, a marketing platform for mobile app developers. “We grew Playhaven from five people and zero revenue to 200 employees and $50 million annual revenue,” Doxtator said in the Western Michigan alumni magazine. When Playhaven got sold, Doxtator helped his wife, Christy, launch a bridal business, LOHO Bride.
Then Doxtator came up with an idea. While exploring financial technology startups, he became intrigued with new regulations allowing apps to sell shares in assets. He thought that could be applied to sports, particularly horse racing. And he knew just who to call to find a partner.
In January, 2019, they launched Commonwealth, which allows investors to buy horses for as little as $50. Commonwealth is about to launch a similar platform for golf fans.
Chamberlin and Doxtator didn’t wait long to make a huge connection with WinStar Farm. Elliott Walden, president and CEO of WinStar, said on Commonwealth’s website “We are excited to enter this partnership. We have seen the micro-share space grow, and believe that offering the horses that WinStar Farm races to the public will bring excitement and energy to the sport.”
You think? Country Grammer and Mage!
At the 2019 Saratoga meet, Chamberlin had the good fortune of being introduced to Ramiro Restrepo. “We became friends,” Chamberlin said. “We talked about connections.”
In 2022, Chamberlin got a call from Restrepo, who had teamed with trainer Gustavo Delgado Sr. to purchase Mage for $290,000 – more than they had budgeted – at the Fasig-Tipton Mid-Atlantic Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale. “He said, `I’ve got this nice Good Magic colt. We’re looking for somebody to take 25 percent,’” Chamberlin said.
Chamberlin watched the video of Mage’s breeze and gallop-out. “I loved them, but I wanted to see the horse in person,” he said. “I see our horses in the flesh before we buy them. I want to have convictions on every horse we offer.”
Chamberlin went to see Mage at the Lexington Thoroughbred Training Center and decided instantly: “The moment I saw him, I said, `Done, we’ll take him!’ He’s built like a bull.”
Commonwealth offered shares of its 25 percent interest in Mage to the public on its app, and 382 people bought in for as little as $50. “It was an incredible array of people,” Chamberlin said. “Professionals, doctors, factory workers, young tech guys.”
Now all of them have a memory of a lifetime: the Kentucky Derby. “I was more emotional when I saw the reactions of my partners,” Chamberlin said. “This is what we give to people. What good is a great horse like Mage if you don’t share him with others? Sharing it with other people made it special for me.”
Actually, horses have been special to him since he was four, 29 years ago. “Horses have been great to me,” Chamberlin said. “They are my greatest passion. It’s absolutely what I love. I hope I get to do horses until the day I die.”
