HOUSTON — He's won a Silver Slugger. He's been named the MVP of the MLB All-Star Game. Now, Alex Bregman has another award to add to his mantle: 2023 New Owner of the Year.
No, not MLB owner, but Thoroughbred horse owner.
Bregman and his wife, Reagan, recently got into horse racing and they own eight race horses.
On Monday, the Bregmans won the new owner award from OwnerView.
"The love of horse racing goes back generations in my family, and I’ve always been a fan," Bregman said. "It’s incredible to have my own horses now and to be able to share the sport with my teammates and fans and to be an ambassador for the sport. I am very honored to receive this award."
This year, they've campaigned three-time stakes winner No Nay Mets along with Game Seven, Cadillac Candy, Goldblooded, Kodiac Wintergreen, Soloshot, Homerunhappy and Miss San Gabriel.
Earlier this month, No Nay Mets competed at the Breeders Cup and the Bregmans were there to cheer him on.
On Bregman Family Racing's first time at the track on April 28, more than a dozen teammates gathered around his phone in the locker room at Globe Life Field to watch Cadillac Candy finish second at Keeneland, TDN reported.
A short time later, the Bregmans won their first-ever race at Churchill Downs with Cadillac Candy.
“It felt like hitting my first home run in the Major Leagues,” Bregman told Thoroughbred Daily News. “The whole team was watching the race with me. We knew it was going to be tough for him to win because he was turning back in distance from 5 ½ to five furlongs and he is a closer. Ideally, he wants a little bit longer. He came flying and I don't remember much after that, other than yelling and going crazy.”
Bregman's dad Sam, a rancher and lawyer, shares his son's love of the sport.
“Baseball and horses have always been in the Bregmans' blood,” he told MLB.com writer Brian McTaggert. “We’ve had a blast in both sports. We love it and I know that he’s loved it, as well. Buy them? That was a little bit of a jump into it. That’s certainly next-level stuff, but if anyone is a good study and someone who really looks at everything involved in this particular sport and figures things out, it’s Alex.”
Reagan Bregman grew up riding horses, too, and she chooses the names for most of their race horses.