Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have set social media abuzz with speculation that they have acquired a 10% stake in a racehorse slated for the 2026 Kentucky Derby. The horse, known as The Puma, is a promising three-year-old chestnut thoroughbred.
The rumors about Swift and Kelce’s involvement with The Puma began circulating online, coinciding with reports of their upcoming summer wedding plans.
On Monday, one social media user shared, “Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are now 10 percent part owners of Kentucky Derby entry The Puma,” fueling excitement among fans.
Another enthusiastic follower took to Instagram, saying, “Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce just bought 10% ownership in The Puma… an official announcement is coming soon,” tagging their post with #taylorswift and #swifties.
The speculation gained further traction when Michael Lavarone, a co-owner of The Puma, added intrigue with a cryptic Instagram Story. Featuring a photo of the horse, Lavarone, who is also a Miami-based investment advisor, stated, “OK people. Everyone asking me if Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are partners on The Puma… all I can say is I signed an NDA, so I can’t confirm or deny,” according to a report by Fox News.
‘OK people. Everyone asking me if Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are partners on The Puma… all I can say is I signed an NDA, so I can’t confirm or deny,’ shared the Miami investment advisor and horseman, per Fox News.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce fans are humming over buzz the couple bought a 10 percent stake in the 2026 Kentucky Derby race horse, The Puma, this week; pictured on March 26 in Los Angeles
The rumor mill over Swift and Kelce’s interest in the three-year-old chestnut thoroughbred (pictured on Wednesday in Louisville, Kentucky) started online, coinciding with the couple’s plans to wed this summer
Sources told Page Six the couple don’t have any ownership interest in The Puma.
However, in August 2024, the NFL star did purchase an ownership stake in a different horse, Swift Delivery, in partnership with Team Valor International and the Zoldan family.
The four-year-old roan gelding – whose very name conjures up images of the Opalite singer – mostly competes at Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.
The Kentucky Derby odds board was buzzing as a result of the so-called Swift Effect, which refers to her ability to turn anything she associates with into economic gold.
According to Fox News, The Puma opened at +1000 on the morning line earlier in the week, ranking as the fifth choice on the odds board, with his chances 10-1.
But after the rumors gained headway, The Puma leaped to a +350 favorite on Wednesday. By Friday, his position had settled down to +800.
Then, just hours away from the race on Saturday, Churchill Downs announced The Puma had been scratched because of a swollen leg from a skin infection.
This isn’t the first time Swift’s fans have gone overboard with glee.
The Puma – pictured on Monday getting washed in the barn area – was unfortunately scratched from the Kentucky Derby because of a swollen leg due to a skin infection
The horse’s co-owner, Michael Lavarone, fueled the scuttlebutt by posting: ‘OK people. Everyone asking me if Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are partners on The Puma… all I can say is I signed an NDA, so I can’t confirm or deny’; Swift and Kelce are pictured in 2024
The NFL star did purchase an ownership stake in a different horse, Swift Delivery, in August 2024; Kelce is pictured at the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in May 2024
Sources, however, told Page Six the couple don’t have any ownership interest in The Puma
The 14-time Grammy winner admitted it’s a ‘little weird’ the way her fans try to figure out who she writes about in her songs.
The Life Of A Showgirl star is famous for using her personal life as inspiration for her tracks and her devoted followers spend a lot of time trying to unpick her lyrics in a bid to work out who each song is about.
In an interview with New York Times Magazine, she explained: ‘There’s corners of my fanbase that are going to take things to a really extreme place.
‘There’s nothing that I can do about that. There’s people who are going to try to like, do detective work, figure out the details – who is that about? What is this?
‘When it gets a little bit weird for me is when people act like it’s sort of like a paternity test. Like: “This song’s about this person.” Because I’m like: “That dude didn’t write the song. I did.”‘
However, Swift is adamant she doesn’t let others’ ‘perception’ of her work influence her.
‘You have to hold tight to your perception of your art and your relationship with it, and then you just have to [think]: “There it goes, hope you like it! If you don’t now, hope you do in five years! And if you never do, then I was doing it for me anyway.”‘
In the interview, Swift went on to reveal her hit track Love Story – which was released in 2008 – was one of the first tracks she wrote without worrying about what other people thought of it.
Swift – seen in New York on Monday – recently admitted she thinks it’s ‘weird’ the way her fans try to figure out who her songs are about, saying: ‘People act like it’s sort of like a paternity test’
She said she penned the song when she was 17 and angry with her parents because they refused to let her date an older boy.
Swift also admitted that her real life is still influencing her writing.
One of her most recent tracks, Elizabeth Taylor from The Life of A Showgirl, came to fruition following a passionate rant about her admiration for the late actress during a car journey with her fiance.
The singer described that the tune popped into her head as soon as she got out of the car and she was ‘scrambling’ to record the melody on her phone before she forgot it.
