LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As kids, Kosta and Pete Hronis peeked through the trackside fence at Santa Anita to watch horses run. The wide-eyed pair growing up in the dusty agricultural expanse outside Bakersfield made holiday trips to the racetrack with their Pasadena grandparents.
The thundering hooves and Racing Form-slapping regulars intoxicated the brothers since the first day they were allowed to bet on a winner.
When they landed driver’s licenses, they began to go to the track on their own. As they grabbed the reigns of the family’s table grape- and citrus-growing operation that stretches across 9,000 acres, they purchased a box at the track. In 2010, they claimed their first horse.
Now, the “grape growers from the valley” are co-owners of Rock Your World, a top contender in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. Kosta, a Del Mar Thoroughbred Club board member, marvels at the sweet intersection of talent, timing, luck — and finding his way to the other side of the fence.
“We’ve never even been close (to the Derby),” said Hronis, 62. “The one thing you know about this, you can’t try to do it. You can’t buy your way into it. If it happens, it happens organically. If things fall into place for a 3-year-old who comes around at the right time, you enjoy the ride.
“It’s definitely a needle in the haystack kind of thing.”
As a businessman, Kosta knows a thing or three about navigating a blizzard of business-related numbers. Hronis Inc. has coaxed grapes and oranges from the San Joaquin Valley soil since 1945. It’s a delicate balancing act in a complex climate with chill and tule fog in the winter and temperatures that can soar beyond 110 degrees in summer.
That background, along with more than a decade in horse racing, built sobering understanding in Kosta about the long odds of a horse finding the starting gate at Churchill Downs. Rock Your World was born into a 2018 foal crop totaling 21,181 in North America, according to The Jockey Club. Of those horses, just 20 breathe rare Kentucky air on the first Saturday in May.
For most, reaching the Derby feels a bit like lassoing a shooting star.
“After (winning) the Pasadena Stakes, Belinda Stronach, who owns the racetrack (at Santa Anita), said to me, ‘My dad’s going to be really jealous of you, because in all of his years he’s never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby,’ ” Hronis said. “So I think about Frank Stronach, what a great horseman he was, how many Eclipse Awards he won as an owner and it really made me appreciate what had been accomplished.
“To hear Belinda say that to me was a real ‘wow’ moment.”
The unbeaten colt cruised to wins in a pair of turf races before collecting a $450,000 payday by romping to a 4½-length victory over fellow Derby qualifier Medina Spirit in the Santa Anita Derby on April 3.
The dirt race pushed the son of 2003 Pacific Classic winner Candy Ride to Churchill Downs as the second betting favorite at 5-1, looking up at only Derby favorite Essential Quality (2-1).
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Hronis’ brother, Pete, framed the thinking of the men grounded by the fertile ground surrounding the company anchored outside of Delano.
“At the end of the day we’re farmers, professional grape growers,” Pete said. “No matter what happens on that Saturday, we’ll be selling grapes on Monday.”
The seeds of Hronis Racing, so to speak, were planted with one person, trainer John Sadler. An usher at Santa Anita set up an initial meeting when he heard the brothers discussing the possibility of sinking deeper roots in the sport.
From the beginning, Sadler preached patience.
“I’ve never been invited to an auction,” Hronis said with a chuckle. “John makes me stay at work. ‘You stay and take care of the grapes and I’ll go look at the horses.’ When I first was with John in 2011, I said, ‘Hey, the 2-year-old sales, can I be part of that?’ He said, ‘No, you’re not ready yet. We’re going to just keep claiming horses. Just keep doing what you’re doing.’
“I think people jump in and jump out so fast because they get discouraged. I think he liked us and wanted to bring us along at his pace.”
When the group scooped up Rock Your World at Keeneland’s renowned September yearling sale for $650,000, that patience would be tested.
Hronis passed, Sadler said.
“The exceptional thing about him, in this day and age of complex things, he’s from the Central Valley,” Sadler said. “He’s very straight forward. He’s the real deal. When you get to know him, it’s hard not to like him. He doesn’t blow his own horn. He’s just a good guy.”
Fellow Del Mar board member, horse advocate and actress Bo Derek was asked to describe the unique prospect of a sitting board member capturing the most prestigious race.
“The best,” Derek said. “The best. The space shuttle is going to hear me screaming.”
Astronauts are unlikely to hear it from Hronis.
“He’s very understated,” Derek said.
After winning the Santa Anita Derby and guaranteeing a spot in the Derby for the first time, Hronis and Sadler skipped the caviar and Cristal.
“We went to a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena,” Hronis said. “It was just enchiladas, tacos, burritos. That was about it. John needs to get home and get to bed because that alarm clock goes off at 3 every morning.”
Though it sounds tame, it in no way erases the tunnel vision. Hronis said he’s at a California racetrack 50 of 52 weekends a year. His wife, Stephanie, dives into work that benefits track workers and retired horses.
“We don’t hunt. We don’t fish. We don’t ski. We don’t golf,” Hronis said. “This became our hobby.”
Why straddle the fence?
April 30, 2021 at 10:09AM
https://ift.tt/3xxRxZU
Grape-growing Del Mar board member Kosta Hronis relishes Kentucky Derby contender - Union Democrat
https://ift.tt/3eO3jWb
Grape
No comments:
Post a Comment