Solomon Kumin has a big chance to win going into the 2018 Kentucky Derby, with part ownership (under the name Head of Plains Partners) of two of the favorites, Audible and Justify.
Mr. Kumin was born in 1975 and graduated from Johns Hopkins University. He bought his first racehorse in 2014 and his most well-known horse is Lady Eli.
Like many owners attracted to horse racing, Mr. Kumin has a background in risky businesses. He worked a decade for Wall Street legend Steven Cohen’s S. A. C. Capital Partners and rose to Chief Operating Officer before leaving in 2014. In 2013, Mr. Cohen’s firm, known for its extraordinary performance, was fined $1.8 billion by the Securities and Exchange Commission and shut down for failure to control insider trading. Mr. Kumin was not implicated and went on to found his own hedge fund, Folger Hill Asset Management.
Mr. Kumin’s experience with the extreme highs and lows of the hedge-fund business should prepare him for the adrenaline-rush that he will surely feel Saturday at Churchill Downs when the University of Louisville band strikes up My Old Kentucky Home.
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Kumin’s Midas touch as a horse owner does not translate to his hedge fund. His hedge fund has done poorly and has had lots of redemptions. Less than a 3% return in 2017. People can beat this with low-risk investments.