Alex Bregman has been surging at the plate the past few weeks, to the tune of a 1.137 OPS with 14 home runs over his past 35 games entering Friday.
The Cubs were off on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean Bregman cooled off. This time, it was his horse that did the surging -- in a race at Churchill Downs. Act of Parliament, a horse owned by Bregman and his family, won at the famed track in Kentucky with jockey Axel Concepcion aboard.
Not only did his horse win, but Bregman got to celebrate with his teammates -- as in, the entire team, which was in attendance to enjoy the moment with the three-time All-Star third baseman.
Bregman has won two World Series titles, with the Astros in 2017 and ’22. He also has a Gold Glove Award, a Silver Slugger Award and the 2018 All-Star Game MVP Award on his trophy shelf. Now, he’s the owner of a thoroughbred that has won a race at Churchill Downs.
When you’re hot, you’re hot.
Bregman has been into horse racing ever since he was a kid. He would often go to the races with his grandfather.
“Being able to share the experience with my teammates was super fun -- a core memory for sure," Bregman said. “It was a great time to spend with the team. Obviously, we are going to spend a lot of time together down the stretch and, hopefully, make a long postseason run. To enjoy it with the team was special.”
Throughout the event, reliever Ryan Rolison wore a horse costume. He wore it because he was the player on the pitching staff with the least experience in the big leagues. He didn’t care, though.
“Some of the guys said that it would be a good time for a rookie to dress up” Rolison remembered. “Unfortunately, they said, ‘Rollie, you have to dress up.’ I said, ‘I’m not a rookie.’ And [manager Craig] Counsell said, ‘Well if you say you are not a rookie, you are a rookie.’ They put me in the worst costume for that.
“It was worth it. … It felt like a movie the way it ended. Obviously, we knew about [the event] about a month ago. It was a fun day overall. It brought the team together and it ended with a win. It was a great experience.”