It doesn’t matter which end of the business you’re talking about: horse racing is a difficult game. But to look at the success of Black Type Thoroughbreds over the last few years, you might be fooled into thinking it’s not as hard as it looks. On Friday, they’ll run Sacred Wish in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico, marking the third year running they’ve bought a horse to run a major stake for three-year-old fillies contested on one of racing’s biggest weekends (they saddled Pass the Champagne and Hidden Connection in the 2021 and 2022 Kentucky Oaks respectively).

Hidden Connection returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since the 2021 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) by capturing a second-level allowance optional claimer by 7 1/2 lengths Dec. 16 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Jake Ballis, principal owner of Black Type Thoroughbreds, has had considerable success in the horse business over a short amount of time. The very first horse the Houston native bought into with his childhood friend and former high school basketball teammate Rashard Lewis, Join in the Dance, made the 2009 Kentucky Derby.