“I thought it was a brilliant idea to take one of the oldest sports and give it a new spin, refreshing it for a new age,” added A Tribe Called Quest’s Jarobi White, one other investor, “Horse racing is called the sport of kings. What NTL is doing is making the sport more accessible, so everyone from kings to commoners can enjoy.”

The horses will run at Fairmount Park in close by Collinsville, Illinois, which has undergone a $100 million renovation 

Randall Lane, CEO of the National Thoroughbred League, is wanting ahead to the league increasing to St. Louis.

“You look at the Cardinals, St. Louis supports its teams and falls in love with its teams. We’ve talked to the mayor’s office about this and coordinated there. It’s a city that loves sports, that wants to support its teams, and Fairmount Park is 100 years old. It’s really historical, old track that they’re putting $100 million into,” Lane stated in a current interview with FOX Business.

“We like going where there’s investment. We like going where there’s a century-old tradition of horse racing. But we wouldn’t have done this without Nelly spearheading it, because having local ownership, having somebody that’s so synonymous with the city to the point of even the name is so fun. I mean, the St. Louis Nellies. Almost all of our teams have horse-related names, but it’s both smart and speaks to the fact that we’re trying to create a team that speaks to St. Louis itself.”

To have fun the brand new group, Nelly will host the NTL’s Nelly Cup on the monitor on July 19. The day will even embrace music by White himself and a Nelly-inspired trend present.