Johnny’s Red Storm. (Coady Media/Shelly Radosevich)
“Outside of basketball, it might have been the most thrilling thing.”
Kentucky Downs Releae
FRANKLIN, Ky. – An added furlong and a different type of course mattered not at all to the distinctively named Johnny’s Red Storm with a famous co-owner Sunday as he rolled to victory in the $1 million Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint.
Using the same style that carried him to a debut maiden 5 ½ -furlong victory at Saratoga four weeks ago, the Twirling Candy colt trained by George Weaver led from gate to wire under Frankie Dettori. In the 6½ furlong Juvenile Sprint, the colt co-owned by John Cronin Jr. and Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame coach of the St. John’s University Red Storm basketball team, started fast, shook off the competition in the 10-horse field when Dettori asked him and ran alone through the stretch.
Johnny’s Red Storm and Dettori reached the wire in 1:14.83, two lengths ahead of graded-stakes winner Obliteration and paid $5.48 as the 8-5 favorite. Azizam (GB), also trained by Weaver, was third. The Weaver horses earned a total of $633,000, with Johnny’s Red Storm picking up $586,750.
Cronin, an investment banker from Boston and his pals were at the track and celebrated in the winner’s circle, while Pitino, the former coach at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, was taking it all in from a northern suburb of New York City.
“I’m in Westchester right now watching it with 30 friends,” Pitino said on speakerphone after Cronin called him. “It’s one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever watched. Outside of basketball, it might have been the most thrilling thing.”
Pitino said that the colt had plenty of backers who contributed to making him the favorite.
“John named him Johnny’s Red Storm,” Pitino said. “All of St. John’s had it today.”
Cronin said he had fun giving the colt a name.
“It was a little play on the Red Storm, the St. John’s Johnnies,” he said. “We spelled it a little bit differently for my name, Johnny. We thought it was a clever name and something Coach could have fun with from a marketing side as well for St. John’s if we have some success. I think we’ve had some success, and the name has taken off.”
Weaver’s assistant, Blair Golen, accompanied the colts from Saratoga and saddled them for the stakes. She said Johnny’s Red Storm served notice in his first race that he had the talent to take a swing at Kentucky Downs’ big-money stakes.
“We always liked him breezing on the turf at Oklahoma, but after his first race of Saratoga, we knew we had a legit horse,” Golen said. “I was very confident with the way he was training over here the past few days, that he was going to run well.”
Azizam had a maiden win and a third in the Windsor Castle during Royal Ascot and was well-beaten in a Group 3 at Goodwood on July 31 before being imported.
“He’s been classy ever since he’s come here,” Golen said. “He’s never been a problem about anything, just does everything perfectly. I thought that was a good get-to-know-you race. I’m very much looking forward to his future.”
Johnny’s Red Storm and Dettori turned in early split times of :21.94 and :44.73. They covered six furlongs in 1:08.44.
“Frankie rode him well,” Golen said. “He got a nice break, got him to rate, relax, and was able to kick away. Just very classy.”
Dettori said that Weaver had touted him on Johnny’s Red Storm.
“Beautiful strong individual,” he said. “I spoke to George. He kind of scared me. He said, ‘Listen, when you turn him on, he goes. So, if somebody is going to be faster than you, I’ve trained him (to come) from behind. You can sit back.’ But the way he was before the race, he was so quiet. I thought, ‘Well, I can be positive. If he wants to go to the lead, I can rein him back in.’ I felt if we get to the three-sixteenths, once I go, I’ll be very hard to catch.”
Obliteration won the G3 Sanford and was second in the G2 Saratoga Special on dirt at Saratoga and was trying turf for the first time.
“He felt great,” jockey Jose Ortiz said. “Put me in position. The winner was there, and I was sitting off him. Unlucky for us, he kept going. My horse kept going, as well, but I couldn’t get to him.”
Cronin said that he and Pitino have been partners in horses for about 25 years.
“We had a horse, Croninthebarbarian, at Kentucky Downs (winning the 2014 Kentucky Downs Juvenile),” Cronin said. “We got the band back together last year at Saratoga. We bought two horses together. One is Zuby (for Zuby Ejiofor) who is the captain of St. John’s. He’s running next week at Aqueduct, and Johnny’s Red Storm. And George Weaver has been a close friend for a long time.
“It’s so thrilling. As Coach said, it’s as good as it gets. The horse industry is such a special fraternity. Being part of it is so special. Being in Kentucky is outstanding. We feel very fortunate to have this opportunity. We’re over the moon about it.”
Cronin said it was likely that Johnny’s Red Storm will be aimed for the Breeders’ Cup. He and his partners were fired up after receiving the winning trophy from basketball legend Julius Erving.
“This is the Boston-based contingent of Johnny’s Red Storm,” Cronin said. “We all made the trip to Nashville, so we had a little boot scootin’ boogie the last couple of nights. It’s been just a spectacular weekend, and today’s my wife’s birthday. Happy birthday to Carolynne. She’s been in this horse business with me all the way through. There’re more downs than ups. But when you get an up, there’s nothing better. So, thank you, Carolynne, for always hanging in there with me during this. And we’re at the top of the mountain today.”
Dettori won four races Sunday and with six victories is the leading rider after the first three days of the meet.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “ I thought I had a couple of chances. But all the trainers I rode for, they were all positive; even the 20-1s. Joe (Sharp) was very confident. Victoria (Oliver) was very confident. My third winner (for Glenn Wismer), he was very confident. George just said to make sure you jump off if you win, and I did.”
