How is it that someone of relatively modest means who operates a family business in Albany, N.Y., has been a partner in four high-caliber runners since he first owned racehorses in 2011?

Well, it is hard to believe good karma has not played a role in Lucas Stritsman’s uncommon success.

His journey with Corms Racing Stable includes a $16,000 claim in 2017 that earned nearly a million dollars, a $50,000 claim the next year that took him to the Kentucky Derby and won the Jim Dandy Stakes, a champion New York-bred, and a freakishly fast filly poised to take him to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for the second straight year.

Trainer Danny Gargan deserves credit for the two astute claims. Divine Miss Grey, acquired for $16,000, blossomed into a Grade 2 winner that banked $934,372. Tax, claimed for $50,000 as a 2-year-old, wound up 14^th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve but proved his surprising quality by finishing fourth in the Belmont Stakes and winning the Jim Dandy.

After the Frizette last fall, Stritsman on far right. (Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA)

Pandagate, trained by the late Christophe Clement and now by his son, Miguel, was saluted by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders last season as its champion 3-year-old male. Jorge Abreu trainee Scottish Lassie comes off a second runaway Grade 1 score heading into Saturday’s scheduled start in the $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing, a steppingstone to the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

As for the good karma, that bears some explanation. Corms Racing Stable is derived from the nickname for Matt Canfield, Stritsman’s great friend since their high school days in Troy, N.Y. Canfield died much too soon when he tumbled down a flight of stairs in 2011.

“He loved the track. He always loved the horses,” Stritsman said. “It’s a good way to remember him.”

Canfield made every outing to their beloved Saratoga Race Course fun. He was the life of every Kentucky Derby party. He often dealt blackjack as part of the festivities, complete with commentary. If someone made an unorthodox move by drawing on 15 and hitting blackjack, he was known to say, “You just can’t teach that. You’re born with it.”

Said Stritsman, “It puts a smile on my face to remember Matt Canfield. He put everybody in stitches. It was just a good time.”

Stritsman, 49, is having a great time these days thanks to Corms Racing Stable and his latest star, Scottish Lassie. He is partners with Sportsmen Stable, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Photos Finish and trainer Abreu in the daughter of McKinzie.

Corms Racing reached the Breeders’ Cup for the first time as an owner thanks to Scottish Lassie. Scottish Lassie finished third in her debut last September, but Abreu was so convinced of her ability that he made the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Aqueduct her second start. She rewarded the gamble with a nine-length romp that provided Abreu with his first graded stakes victory. Scottish Lassie then finished a respectable fourth to eventual 2-year-old champion Immersive in the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.

With daughter Klara at the 2019 Kentucky Derby. (Courtesy of Lucas Stritsman)

An illness sidelined Scottish Lassie earlier this season and forced Abreu to scrap his plans to run her in the prestigious Longines Kentucky Oaks. An awkward start contributed to a third-place result in an allowance optional claiming race at Aqueduct in her delayed 3-year-old debut on May 1. She drew the rail and did not respond well to a sloppy, sealed track at Saratoga on June 6 when she was again third in the DK Horse Acorn Stakes at Saratoga.

That set the stage for another Grade 1 at Saratoga, the July 19 Coaching Club American Oaks Invitational Stakes. Scottish Lassie wrested the early lead from Immersive with that rival in hot pursuit down the backstretch.

Scottish Lassie was moving with the greatest of ease for jockey Joel Rosario and began to increase her margin. Manny Franco implored Immersive for more as they headed into the final turn. The leader continued to widen.

Scottish Lassie poured it on as the crowd roared, opening up by five lengths, then seven, then 10 and finally 15 ½ lengths before Rosario eased her under the wire. Abreu, a long-time assistant to top trainer Chad Brown, always knew the filly was capable of such a smashing performance.

“She’s getting better with age,” he said. “She’s doing everything so professional, so laid back.”

For Stritsman and the partners he brought into Corms Racing, it was a wow moment that most groups with limited financial capabilities never enjoy. “I have a modest budget because I just can’t throw tons of money at this game,” the managing partner said. “I have to do it somewhat strategically.”

Stritsman is fascinated by every aspect of racing. He has had his share of misses, but he does everything he can to be a good student of the game and to surround himself with the right trainers, the right partners.

“I’ve had some nice horses and I’ve taken some good rides,” he said. “I always thought a lot of it was luck, but some of it was by good intention.”

And good karma never hurts.