Flying Dutchmen: who are the figures behind the $22 million spree in Saratoga?

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This week’s major Saratoga spenders Flying Dutchmen do not appear to have a name directly influenced by one of the greatest racehorses of all time, the 1849 Derby winner who defeated Voltigeur in a match which reportedly drew a crowd of more than 100,000 to York.

The US ownership entity making a big splash in the thoroughbred scene, responsible for an outlay of $21,625,000 on yearlings at Fasig-Tipton, belongs to Travis Boersma. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of drive-through coffee chain Dutch Bros.

Boersma’s family are from the Netherlands and, having originally been a dairy farmer in Oregon, he built the coffee business up to being publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange and retains a huge shareholding with a fortune estimated at more than $3 billion. There are more than 1,000 outlets around North America.

The racing operation is run by Boersma’s son Payton and the experienced industry figure Hunter Rankin. The Boersma family had owned low-level horses closer to home in Oregon for some time but have moved it into a much higher gear over the last three years.

Flying Dutchmen purchased Shred The Gnar, its first Grade 1 winner in this May’s La Troienne Stakes, at the 2023 Saratoga Sale. The Into Mischief filly was purchased for $610,000 under its previous guise, Boardshorts Stables.

Shred The Gnar is trained by the Australian-born, Kentucky-based veteran Brian Lynch, who is set to be the recipient of this latest batch of purchases. Lynch sent out another of the 2023 Saratoga selections, the $350,000 Speightstown colt Owen Almighty, to win last year’s Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby.

There had also been a shrewd move to purchase a 2.5 per cent share in superstar Flightline for $4.6 million at the 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, just after the champion’s retirement. The bidding was undertaken by Brookdale Farm’s Fred Seitz on behalf of a client who was then undisclosed. 

Flying Dutchmen was also active at this year’s Inglis Easter Sale in Australia and partnered with the revered John Messara of Arrowfield Stud in an I Am Invincible filly out of triple Group 1 winner Shoals for A$750,000 (£392,000/€459,000).

During interviews with several publications in Australia at that time, both Payton Boersma and Rankin told reporters that Flying Dutchmen had about 70 racehorses and 25 or so broodmares on its own farm.

Read more:

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