In May of 2023, Zach Doctor was vacationing with some friends in Palm Springs. Kentucky Derby Day came around, and Doctor’s pals were sports fans, so they wanted to watch the race. They also wanted to bet it, but none of them really knew how.

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Doctor, the co-founder and CEO of WagerWire, a company that allows people to buy a percentage — or all — of another person’s bet slip, had an acquaintance who was at the Derby with a horse ownership collective called Commonwealth. This outfit had a similar mindset to that of WagerWire as it enabled people to buy small shares in a given racehorse rather than fork over the princely fees associated with blue-blooded barns.