Owners: Rombauer’s Preakness win was ‘just meant to be’

The Fradkins’ unlikely Preakness victory last Saturday with Rombauer might have been a long-delayed wedding gift.

True, if they had had their way last summer, they would have sold their homebred colt when he was a debut winner on the Del Mar turf at 2. And trainer Michael McCarthy really wanted to run Rombauer in the Kentucky Derby before the Fradkins insisted that Baltimore was their goal.

This story really goes back nearly 28 years. Roll the clock back to Nov. 3, 1993.

“We got married on Breeders’ Cup day,” Diane Fradkin said.

“That’s a good story,” John Fradkin said as Diane struck a knowing laugh. “I was a pretty good handicapper by then. Back then there were seven Breeders’ Cup races, so they had basically what was a Pick 7. We threw about $3,000 at it from my office. At our wedding reception we knew we had 6-out-of-6 going into the last race. Of course, we didn’t use Arcangues.”

The 133-1 longest of long shots ruined a lot of tickets that day in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Yes, getting 6 of 7 paid $510.80, But a perfect Pick 7 bet was worth $1.5 million, and there were only two. Neither was in anyone’s pocket at the Fradkins’ wedding reception.

Move ahead to last weekend. Rombauer’s win was worth $600,000 in first-place money. Not quite $1.5 million, but this story is far from over. The Fradkins could be looking at a much bigger payoff.

“It was something that was just meant to be,” Diane said. “When you’re in this business as long as we have been in it for 28 years, I think everybody has their day in the sun. I think it was just our time.”

Speaking from their home in Santa Ana, Calif., in an interview for VSiN’s racing podcast, the Fradkins recounted the unlikely circumstances that led to the Preakness triumph.

Rombauer is a homebred colt by Twirling Candy out of the Fradkins’ Cowboy Cal broodmare Cashmere, and he was ticketed for sale from the moment he was foaled in April 2018.

“We do think of ourselves as commercial breeders, and everything we breed is for sale,” John said. “We’re generally not owners. Generally we’ve kept only the ones we couldn’t sell.”

That is exactly what Rombauer was. Partly because COVID threw last year’s sales schedule for a loop. And especially because a faulty timer kept potential buyers last summer from giving Rombauer even a first look.

“He won his in his first start going a mile on the turf last year at Del Mar,” John said. “I thought it was a very impressive race. He came home (the last quarter-mile) in 22.92, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen.”

The new Gmax timer at Del Mar inexplicably spat out a slow, final time that really did not compute. It turned out the system did not work right, but that was not confirmed for another two weeks. Rombauer’s Beyer Speed Figure of 48 from the Daily Racing Form had already been tattooed on his record.

“Right up to the race I thought we’d have significant offers on the horse, and we’d probably sell him,” John said. “Something in the $200,000-$250,000 range probably would have been considered. But it didn’t happen. That was another lucky break for us, because we didn’t sell.”

It would be nearly seven more months before the next victory, but that score in the El Camino Real Derby on the Tapeta track at Golden Gate Fields qualified Rombauer for the Preakness – and his win at 11-1 odds.

Now, as a Grade 1 classic winner with victories on grass, synthetic and dirt, Rombauer figures to be worth much, much more than $200,000 or $600,000 or $1.5 million as a stallion.

“We’d really like for him to become a stallion in Kentucky at some point and kind of leave a legacy for the Ultrafleet family,” said John, referring to Rombauer’s granddam who was one of the first broodmares the Fradkins bought the year they got married.

The Fradkins thought Roaring Lion, a three-time Group 1 winner in England, would carry on the Ultrafleet legacy. But he died of colic in 2019 after only one year at stud.

“That was the obvious one that we thought would continue the line,” John said. “But maybe our little horse can do it.”

Between now and then, there is still half a 3-year-old season for Rombauer to contest. The next stop will be in two weeks at the Belmont Stakes.

“I do worry about the bounce factor,” John said. “This horse went from an 88 Beyer to a 102. So is there a chance for a bounce? Totally. There is a chance, and I am worried about that. But if you win the Preakness, you’ve got to go to the Belmont.”

The Fradkins were careful not to put their plans completely in concrete. Even though Rombauer is already in a barn on the backside at Belmont Park, they said McCarthy always has the final call before proceeding through the green light.

Make no mistake, though. The Fradkins’ trip to New York is in the works.

“We’ve had friends that have already made arrangements,” Diane said. “We’re trying to absorb everything right now and figure out what our next move is going to be. We have a lot of new friends who definitely want to go to New York now.”

“I have great respect for the racing gods,” John said. “You don’t want to anger the racing gods if you make reservations too early, so we’re going to wait until kind of the last minute.”