Rob Gronkowski has battled various injuries over the course of his NFL career, and it now sounds like his horse could be dealing with similar adversity ahead of the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
The New England Patriots tight end last week bought a stake in a 3-year-old colt named “Gronkowski,” which was expected to run at Churchill Downs on May 5. However, the horse since has suffered a setback of some kind, jeopardizing his chances of competing in the first leg of this year’s Triple Crown.
“We’ve had a minor setback and we will know where we are in the next 24 hours,” trainer Jeremy Noseda said Monday, according to RacingPost.com.
Gronkowski, the horse, was expected to fly to Kentucky this weekend. He’s considered a long shot to win the Derby even if he competes, largely because he’s never run on dirt. But Gronkowski, the human, was fired up to join the world of horse racing.
“This horse is a winner and I love a winner,” the Patriots All-Pro said last week in a statement. “When I heard about the racehorse being named after me, I started watching and got really stoked when he started winning. He’s won his last three races and is now headed to the Derby. I’m all in: Welcome to the Gronk Family, Gronkowski the Horse!”
The horse’s owner, Kerri Radcliffe of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, is a Patriots fan who saw similarities between the colt and the tight end — the two Gronks stand about the same size. Hence the horse’s name, which later caught the attention of Gronkowski, the human, who wanted to get involved.
