LOU DONATO: “I LOVE GETTING NEW PEOPLE IN RACING”
- HBPA
- Nov 21
- 3 min read
BY JENNIFER MORRISON
Lou Donato has owned hundreds of horses and watched thousands of races and each one is exciting. But there seems to be even more of a spark to Lou when he talks about his latest winner, Sultana, who won the Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) at Woodbine on November 8 in only her fifth career race.
That is because Donato shares ownership with two friends, Teddy Manziaris and Paul Borrelli, who have never owned a horse before and got into horse ownership through Lou's close friend, ace bloodstock agent Donato Lanni.
“We were blown away,” said Donato about Sultana's stretch running win in the Maple Leaf. “For Teddy and his wife, it was the most exciting thing. I love bringing new people into racing and so does Donato.”
Lanni, who is originally from Montreal but has made a name as one of the world's most successful judges of horseflesh, is based on Kentucky. He buys hundreds of horses for clients a year but bought Sultana, a daughter of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming, for himself for $50,000 from a Florida 2-year-old sale in June, 2023.
Later that summer when Lanni was in Toronto to watch his super filly Moira race in the Queen's Plate, he went for a lunch at Donato's favourite spot, Harbour 60 restaurant in the downtown core a couple of days before the big race. Harbour 60 is owned by Ted Nikolaou who was close friends with Steve Stavro, owner of the successful Knob Hill Stables.
None of Donato's friends at the lunch knew anything about horses. He introduced Lanni to them and told them Moira would win the Plate on the weekend, “easily”.
Did she ever.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and Donato and Lanni were back at Harbour 60 and the friends were so excited they asked Lanni to buy them a horse.
The idea was kept on the back burner until earlier this year when Lanni told Donato the Always Dreaming filly he had bought in 2023 might be one they could buy into.
Donato and his friends Teddy Manziaris and Paul Borrelli watched the filly's impressive debut victory n and jumped at the chance.
Trained by Kevin Attard, the 2024 Sovereign Award winner for Outstanding Trainer, Sultana finished third and second in her next two races before winning an allowance event on the turf in September. What followed was her surprising win at 5 to 1 in the 1 1/4 mile Maple Leaf against some top mares including champion Fabulously Fab.
“She made a move in the last 30 feet of that race that amazed me,” said Donato, whose many claims to fame includes scooping up Moonland Princess for $5,000 for the late Gino Molinaro, a mare who would give Molinaro a Plate with with longshot Tj's Lucky Moon in 2002. “We certainly didn't expect her to win, though. Now Teddy thinks horse racing is the greatest sport on earth.”
Manziaris is a fascinating story himself. The self-made man began a garbage and recycling business in the classified ads in Toronto and was hired one day by Maple Leaf Gardens which needed a large clean-up. “Him and his partner made 180 trips to the dump, all in Teddy's mother's K-car. Later he was given the garbage contract for Maple Leaf Gardens.”
Both Manziaris and Borelli are now involved in GFL Environmental, which bought the former's Turtle Island Recycling company a decade ago.
Getting involved with their first racehorse has the men “very excited” and they are looking forward to seeing Sultana at the races again in 2026.
“I tell people that owning a racehorse is a lot of fun,” said Donato. “You have to be lucky but it is a great thing to do with family and friends.”
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