Wasabi Ventures Stables

Owner: TK Kuegler | Born: March 21,1971 | Birthplace: Baltimore, MD | Residence: Tampa, FL

First Win: Slick William, Laurel Park, 2017 | Tampa Trainer: Jesus “Jesse” Cruz

TK Kuegler, who has campaigned under the stable name Wasabi Ventures Stables since 2017, defines success in the sport as “taking care of the horses and the people who take care of the horses. Wins and losses come and go, but taking care of the people and horses themselves is more important.”

Wasabi Ventures Stables, which finished fifth in last season’s Oldsmar Owners standings with nine victories, will keep about 10 horses at Tampa Bay Downs under trainer Jesus “Jesse” Cruz, with another string at Oaklawn Park under Jason Barkley and another group at Penn National under Mark Salvaggio. All told, Wasabi Ventures has about 25 Thoroughbreds in training, 25 broodmares and a combined 50 weanlings and yearlings, with the broodmares and unraced horses residing at St. Omer’s Farm in Maryland. The stable also owns shares in about 30 stallion syndicates. Kuegler is a venture capitalist by trade, investing in early-stage companies and helping them to expand. He gained the desire to enter racing when he was a young child after listening to stories from his great-grandfather, Pierre Lacoste, about the racetrack. One of Wasabi Ventures’ top horses is stakes winner Benevengo, claimed at Tampa Bay Downs last February from his first start, a victory, for $25,000. Why Not Tonight, now a member of the outfit’s broodmare band, won the All Brandy Stakes at Laurel Park last June as a 4-year-old in her final career start. Kuegler’s wife Michele directs the couple’s nonprofit aftercare program for retired racehorses through The Horse Fund, which focuses on supporting safe and secure Thoroughbred retirements for all the horses that have been touched by Wasabi Ventures. “It is her full-time job,” said TK, who says his wife tracks about 400 horses they have owned at one time or another. “Even if we claim a horse and it runs one race and goes to someone else, she makes sure it ends up in a safe place” (after its racing career).