Dream’s team
Pair of Brooklyn owners ride likely favorite to Derby
They met on the sandlots of Brooklyn in 1966. One was 9 years old, the other 7. They snuck into Aqueduct and Belmont Park, but mostly cherished the Mets, Knicks and Rangers.
This Williamsburg friendship has lasted 51 years. Two years ago, they joined forces in the horse racing business and now their stable called “Brooklyn Boyz’’ heads to Louisville this week with one of the two favorites to win Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Anthony Bonomo and Vinnie Viola, with their wives, own Always Dreaming, the 3-year-old dark bay colt who captured the April 1 Grade 1 Florida Derby. He will be either the favorite or second choice to Classic Empire when the morning line is set at Churchill Downs during Wednesday’s post-position draw.
Viola has owned the woebegone Florida Panthers of the NHL since 2013, but at least his racehorse is giving him joy this year as Always Dreaming clocked the fastest Florida Derby time since 1978.
The pair grew up in the northern corner of Williamsburg before it was overrun by hipsters and featured in the trendy tourist guides.
“In those days in Williamsburg, people loved sports — no matter what, baseball, basketball, hockey, whatever season,’’ said Bonomo, an insurance attorney. “But we’d sneak in to Aqueduct, Belmont and just watch racing. It was something you looked at, but truthfully when you saw a horse in Brooklyn it was pulling a fruit cart.’’
All these years later, Bonomo and Viola still represent their tight-knit neighborhood.
The place is called Bamonte’s, a neighborhood Italian eatery. Some waitresses have worked their tables since the 1950s. The restaurant is often packed, but it was a zoo on the day of the Florida Derby.
“Everybody in the neighborhood goes to eat there,’’ Bonomo said. “No matter where you move, everyone comes back for the street festival [in the summer]. It’s where friends are friends forever, no matter where they move to. Bamonte’s is the focal point of the neighborhood, large crowds always watching TV in there. I heard a lot of people were going crazy in the restaurant.”
Bonomo established “Brooklyn Boyz’’ in 2006 with another Brooklyn buddy, Joe Harkins. The stable’s silks feature two Brooklyn Dodgers’ “B’s’’ in white lettering.
Bonomo’s wife, Maryellen, was a big horse racing fan as a child, growing up 5 miles from Belmont Park, attending the races with her father. Maryellen dragged Bonomo to Saratoga Race Course in 2005 and he fell in love with horse racing all over again.
“She begged me for years to go to Saratoga, take the kids up there,’’ Bonomo said. “Typical Brooklyn guy didn’t want to go all the way up there. I had no idea how mesmerizing and beautiful Saratoga was. Watching the races, she just said I would really like to own a racehorse.’’
And so started their equine careers — with Maryellen naming their horses, including Always Dreaming.
“It’s a cool, catchy moniker,’’ Bonomo said. “She said, ‘ Look, what do you do when you buy a horse? You’re “always dreaming’’ it’s going to win a big race. More important, every day everybody’s always dreaming about doing something.’ ”
After Harkins left the partnership, Viola stepped in.
“We decided to do it together, our wives were close, kids were close and him and I were close,’’ Bonomo said. “Why don’t we just merge our stables and put some horses together and see what happens?’’
They have 19 horses, but neither has had a Derby starter. Bonomo sent two horses to race at the Breeders’ Cup and had a Belmont Stakes long shot in Five Sixteen (Long Island’s area code).
“I love the Belmont because it’s my hometown, but the Kentucky Derby is the Kentucky Derby,” said Bonomo, who lives in Manhasset, Long Island. “I’m trying to harness the excitement. I can’t get too crazy.’’
Viola declined comment for this story, saying the horse’s Derby spokesman is Bonomo. A preseason playoff favorite, Viola’s Panthers stumbled to 35-36-1.
“Listen, Vinnie’s a winner,’’ Bonomo said. “If you watch the [Florida Derby] press conference, someone asked him about the Panthers’ [struggles]. He said one has nothing to do with the other. Anything short of a Stanley Cup is not a success to him. He was asked if you don’t win the Kentucky Derby will you be upset? He said ‘yes.’
“When you start out, your dream is to be in the Derby. Then you never get there. Now you get there and the dream is not to be in it. Your dream is now to win it.”
Trained by the elite Todd Pletcher, Always Dreaming’s last workout was Friday at Churchill Downs with a 5-furlong drill in a sharp 59.60 seconds with standout jockey John Velazquez aboard.
“I like his chances,’’ Bonomo said. “He’s training well. Signs are good. He’s looking good, lightly raced, can get the distance and has tactical speed. All the signs are there, but when the gate opens it’s 20 horses and they’re all there because they’re good horses.’’
However, on the first Saturday in May, horseplayers from Williamsburg have one choice: Bet on Brooklyn.
“What I’m hearing, come around 6 [p.m.] that day in Bamonte’s, there’ll be quite a crowd watching,’’ Bonomo said. “Hopefully after, they will still be celebrating. Do we feel we’re carrying that neighborhood with us? Of course. If we win it’ll be nuts. It’s a neighborhood with a lot of pride.’’