The Real Win, Place, and Show Are the Friends We Made Along the Way

Each installment of “The Friendship Files” features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.

This week she talks with a group of friends who met playing college football and got interested in horse racing after graduation. Now, along with their other friend Reiley, who didn’t participate in the interview, they are part owners of the horse that came in third place at the 2021 Kentucky Derby. They discuss the pact they made to race horses for the experience, not for the money; the “emotional blackout” they feel during a race; and how their Derby contender, Hot Rod Charlie, is a friend too.

The Friends:

Eric Armagost, 28, a venture capitalist and a managing member of Boat Racing LLC, who lives in Peachtree City, Georgia
Dan Giovacchini, 28, a tech-startup co-founder and a managing member of Boat Racing LLC, who lives in Boston
Patrick O’Neill, 28, the vice president of sales at an apparel company and a managing member of Boat Racing LLC, who lives in Boston
Alex Quoyeser, 28, an operations manager for Lyft and a managing member of Boat Racing LLC, who lives in Santa Monica, California

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Julie Beck: How did you guys meet and become friends?

Alex Quoyeser: All five of us were members of the Brown University football team, class of 2015. We also all majored in business, entrepreneurship, and organizations. And we happened to join the same fraternity with 30 fellow football players. So we had a high degree of exposure to one another.

Beck: What was the social environment like on the football team?

It was a work hard, play hard type of mentality. We were at a rigorous school with rigorous