Alex Bregman's foray into horse racing will have him keeping an eye on Churchill Downs in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday. One of his horses, a 3-year-old named Golden Sombrero, will run a 7-furlong race on a dirt track in the final race of the day -- two races after the Kentucky Derby -- and will be ridden by jockey Jose Ortiz, who is close friends of several Major League players.
"We're very optimistic about the race," Bregman said.
Bregman's entire family will be at Churchill Downs for Saturday's races, including his wife, Reagan, and their nine-month-old son, Knox. Alex will be in Seattle, where the Astros play the Mariners, and he hopes it's a winning weekend for all.
"You're running against one of the better maiden races in the country," Alex said. "And we hope that he can continue to take steps up the ladder. This will be his second race on dirt. His first race, he ran great and lost by a nose at the wire. We shipped him from California to Kentucky about two weeks ago and he just had his final workout two days ago and he looks fantastic. We see him having an extremely bright future, hopefully winning May stakes races."
Bregman's horses run under the name of Bregman Family Racing LLC, which consists of Alex, Reagan and Alex's parents -- his father, Sam, and mother, Jackie. Sam grew up in Maryland going to races at Pimlico and passed his love for the sport to his son.
When Alex played baseball while growing up in Albuquerque, N.M., he would spend many of his days at Albuquerque Downs, which is one of five racetracks in New Mexico. Sam is the former chair of the New Mexico Racing Commission, which governs the sport in the state. Reagan also grew up riding horses.
Alex has another horse running Saturday at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. That horse, a 3-year-old, is partially owned by him and teammates Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr., among others. The horse, aptly named Game Seven, won its first career start and on Saturday is running its second race.
