Homeboykris (foaled February 13, 2007, died May 21, 2016) was a

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...

bred in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. A son of Roman Ruler, he was purchased privately by a group headed by restaurateur Louis Lazzinnaro that included

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

executive and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief bas ...

and turned over to Richard Dutrow Jr., for training. Lazzinnaro purchased Homeboykris from Brenda Tabraue after he broke his maiden at

Calder Race Course Calder Casino is a casino located in Miami Gardens, Florida. It includes slots, electronic table games, and bingo. The casino opened in 2010 and features a gaming floor with 1,100 slot machines, including video poker, as well as electronic ro ...

. Dutrow is known for conditioning the Dual Classic winner

Big Brown Big Brown may refer to: * Big Brown (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse * Big brown bat, an North American bat * Big Brown, a nickname for the delivery company United Parcel Service * Big Brown Box, an Australian online retailer *Big Brown ( ...

. Homeboykris was one of three winners from as many starters out of stakes-place winner One Last Salute, by Salutely. His sire was Roman Ruler, a son of

Mr. Prospector Mr. Prospector (January 28, 1970 – June 1, 1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, i ...

. Homeboykris' most important win was the 2009 Grade I Champagne Stakes, which he won by 1 1/2 lengths over

Discreetly Mine Discreetly Mine is an American thoroughbred race horse. Foaled in 2007, he won the Risen Star Stakes in February 2010, making him a contender for the 2010 Kentucky Derby in which he finished thirteenth. Background Bred in Kentucky by E. Paul R ...

. Homeboykris died May 21, 2016, while returning to his barn after winning the first race of the day during the

2016 Preakness Stakes The 2016 Preakness Stakes (in full, the Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes, due to sponsorship) was the 141st running of the Preakness Stakes. The race was held on May 21, 2016, and was scheduled to be run at 6:45 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and ...

card. According to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, the cause of death may have been from

cardiovascular The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

complications. It was his 14th win in 63 career starts. Homeboykris was the first of two horses that died at

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of O ...

that day. The second horse, four year-old filly Pramedya, fractured her front left leg in the final turn of the fourth race. She was

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

on the track. Pramedya's owners also owned

2006 Kentucky Derby The 2006 Kentucky Derby was the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 6, 2006 and was won by Barbaro. There was a crowd of 157,532 in attendance. Contenders Viewed as one of the most competitive fields in years, there w ...

winner Barbaro.

References

2007 racehorse births 2016 racehorse deaths Thoroughbred family 16 Racehorses bred in Florida Racehorses trained in the United States {{Racehorse-stub