Gronkowski could meet namesake at Derby
Dan Wolken
Unlike his human namesake, Gronkowski the horse has not missed any training lately, will not be providing any juicy content for TMZ and won’t spend much time partying with members of the opposite sex — at least until his retirement.
But the two Gronkowskis have something in common — an affinity for the Kentucky Derby — and there’s a good chance they’ll meet face-to-face at Churchill Downs this year.
Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots tight end, has been known in previous years to fiesta on Millionaire’s Row along with several of his teammates, including Tom Brady. And now the equine Gronkowski, a Kentucky-bred 3-yearold who trains in England, will join him at Churchill after finishing first in a new points system for European horses that gave him an automatic spot in the Kentucky Derby.
“I’m hoping to meet Gronk. He’s definitely coming,” Kerri Radcliffe, the bloodstock agent who purchased the horse on behalf of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, told USA TODAY by phone from London last week. “The whole team is going. Gronk actually liked one of the tweets I put up and he knows all about the horse. I’m definitely supposed to be meeting him on that Friday (before the race).
“I just hope he brings Mr. Brady.”
It is Radcliffe’s fandom of American football in general, and particularly the Patriots, that inspired her to name the horse Gronkowski after buying him for
300,000 British pounds (roughly
$425,000 U.S. dollars) at the Tattersalls auction for 2-year-olds in training last year.
Though the average eye might be not be able to tell much difference from one Thoroughbred to another, Radcliffe saw a tall, physical specimen with rippling muscles and immediately thought of someone she’d seen on the football field.
“I loved the big rangy horse, just basically built like a tank,” she said. “He is built in the equine form of Gronk.”
In fact, because of the regulations related to naming horses in England, Radcliffe had already reserved the name Gronkowski with the British Horseracing Authority before the purchase as well as several other Patriots-themed names including Belichick and Amendola. Much to her disappointment, Brady was already taken.
“I’m a very, very big Tom Brady fan,” Radcliffe said. “I’ve always watched the NFL because I spent a lot of time in America buying horses for 15 years, at least.”
She even put a Patriots connection into naming Dream Tree, a Bob Baffert trainee who might have been the Kentucky Oaks favorite if not for a minor injury last month. Dream Tree Boulevard is the name of a street at the Disney World resort where Radcliffe watched the Patriots beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
“It’s hard to get horses’ names passed, especially when it’s after someone who’s famous,” Radcliffe said. “If they’re American-bred, which Gronkowski is, they have to pass North America and UK (racing authorities), so it’s not an easy task.
“There’s nothing worse than having a good horse that has a bad name.”
Gronkowski seems like a good name, or at least one that is going to at least give some casual fans and people who typically don’t watch the Kentucky Derby a reason to tune in on May 5, which is also Cinco de Mayo — one of the human
“I loved the big rangy horse, just basically built like a tank. He is built in the equine form of Gronk.”
Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock agent, on the horse Gronkowski
Gronkowski’s favorite holidays.
Perhaps that confluence of Gronk karma will produce a big upset, as no European-based runner has shipped over and won the Kentucky Derby. At the very least, Radcliffe has helped bring some publicity for the NFL over to England, where many fans didn’t know the origin of the name before Gronkowski started winning races.
“Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon now,” she said.
Whether Gronkowski the horse can perform as well as the human on the big stage remains to be seen. Although he’s won four consecutive races on a synthetic dirt surface, he’s never run farther than a mile.
There’s also a question about the level of competition he’s been facing, as the top 3-year-olds in England are typically preparing for the classic Group 1 races such as the 2,000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby.
But simply having a horse in the Kentucky Derby is a huge accomplishment for Gronkowski’s team, including trainer Jeremy Noseda, who trained 2004 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile longshot winner Wilko, and racing newcomer Phoenix Thoroughbreds, a Dubai-based “investment fund” that dropped millions of dollars at sales around the world last year with Radcliffe selecting the horses and naming them.
Radcliffe parted ways with Phoenix in March but will be in Louisville cheering on Gronkowski — and perhaps partying with some Patriots.
“It’s always been my dream out of any race in the world, I’d love to have a runner in the Kentucky Derby,” she said. “Just to have a runner in the Derby in my first year buying for these people is pretty remarkable. Some people spend years and years (trying), and it’s never happened. And Jeremy, it’s his dream as well, and he’s done a fabulous job with the horse. It’s so exciting to get to this stage. Anything can happen.”