Kentucky Derby winner has Florida Panthers connection
A horse with a hockey connection won for the second straight year at the Kentucky Derby.
Always Dreaming, which is partially owned by Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola won the derby in 2:03.59, beating Lookin at Lee (2nd) and Battle of Midway (3rd). Always Dreaming held 9-2 odds before the race and was a co-favorite along with Irish War Cry.
[Follow Puck Daddy on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]
Nyquist, which was named for Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, won last year’s Kentucky Derby. That horse was owned by Paul Reddam, who was raised in Windsor, Ont. and is a big Red Wings fan.
After Saturday’s race, the Panthers tweeted out their congratulations to Viola
We hereby move that Always Dreaming gets Honorary Cat Status™ after that run. ????
Congrats to our owner, Vinnie Viola, on today's huge win!
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 6, 2017
As did Florida co-owner Doug Cifu.
Way to go partner! Great things happen for great people. Go Vinnie and Teresa. ????????????????????. 3 more of these trophies to go…. https://t.co/DJF83dfcaP
— Doug Cifu (@Dougielarge) May 6, 2017
Here is the entire race, which took place on a muddy track because of morning rains in Louisville, Kentucky.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest now]
Viola, who bought the Panthers in 2013, is also the executive chairman of Virtu Financial. He was nominated to be Secretary of the Army by President Donald Trump, but then dropped his name from consideration.
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS
