Tag: Churchill Downs

Alex Bregman is one of the best players on one of the best teams in baseball, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other interests. In addition to mashing dingers while making deep October runs with the Astros every year, Bregman runs Bregman Family Racing LLC, which owns eight horses across Florida and Kentucky.

And as of Thursday, the Astros star is officially on the board with his first victory at the track.

In an afternoon race at Churchill Downs, Cadillac Candy came out on top in a photo finish. Candy was, of course, a 7-2 favorite to win in the lead-up.

It might just be the beginning of something special for Bregman and Candy.

Bregman’s bloodstock agent, Mike Akers, gushed about the third baseman’s evident obsession with horses to the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome:

 ‘The learning curve is pretty big right now,’ [Mike] Akers said. ‘But Alex is a sponge. He really doesn’t have to learn anything twice. We’re getting there.”

Bregman isn’t alone in this horse endeavor, either. Former Astros teammate and current Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jake Marisnick partnered with Bregman on Cadillac Candy. According to Rome, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr. have also shown interest in getting involved.

“Actually being around [the horses] and watching them train and getting to know their personalities,” Bregman said, “I’m addicted.”

We’ll see what other successful hijinks Bregman gets up to this year. His Astros are in first place in the AL West, and Cadillac Candy has another run later this month.

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