When racing fans hear the name Champagne Stakes, they think about rising star 2-year-olds, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Kentucky Derby prospects, and some of the great Thoroughbreds of all time among the list of winners. But for this year’s $500,000, one-mile race Saturday at Belmont Park, there will be a distinct theme from a different sport: ice hockey.
For a large swath of U.S. sports fans, interest in ice hockey spikes every four years when the Olympic Games arrive, much like interest in soccer peaks around the FIFA World Cup. When the U.S. men’s and women’s ice hockey teams both won gold medals at the 2026 Olympics, it dominated the sport’s news coverage in the United States.
The men’s team celebrated the overtime gold medal game victory over Canada with a beloved former teammate in spirit. The late Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 jersey hung in the U.S. men’s team’s locker room throughout the Olympic games. Players like Zach Werenski, Matthew Tkachuk, and Dylan Larkin carried the No. 13 jersey of Gaudreau around the rink in Milan, Italy, after they captured gold and then brought his children onto the ice to celebrate with them and be part of the team photo.
Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, died tragically when they were struck by a drunk driver while riding bicycles one morning before their sister, Katie, was to be married. Johnny was 31 years old and Matthew was 29. Their deaths shook the hockey community to its core.
The Gaudreau family helped elevate USA hockey. Guy Gaudreau, father of Johnny and Matthew, was a collegiate hockey player and a longtime coach in New Jersey who was the director of Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell. Guy and his wife, Jane, and the family are beloved in that community, and the reach of the Gaudreaus extended to USA hockey as the diminutive brothers’ on-ice ability shone while they developed as promising prospects.
The Gaudreau brothers both played collegiate hockey for Boston College, and the elder brother earned the nickname “Johnny Hockey” during his time with the Eagles program. A fourth-round NHL draft pick, Johnny went on to stardom with the Calgary Flames and later the Columbus Blue Jackets, amassing 243 goals and 743 points in 763 NHL games. Matthew played professional hockey for five years in the U.S. and Sweden before shifting to coaching.
Johnny also was a star for USA hockey as a five-time member of the U.S. Men’s National Team and 2013 World Juniors gold medalist. A five-point game against Kazakhstan at the 2024 IIHF Men's World Championship pushed Gaudreau past Patrick Kane to become the all-time leader in assists with 30 and points with 43.
Two horses entered in the Champagne Stakes on Saturday at Belmont Park were named in honor of Johnny Gaudreau and his family.
#1 Johnny Hockey, a chestnut colt by Omaha Beach, has one win and one third from six races to date. He earned his first career win Aug. 9 at Monmouth Park on the dirt then switched to grass for Skidmore Stakes and finished fifth Aug. 27 at Saratoga. Returning to his preferred surface should help his chances in the Champagne for owner Next Level Stables.
#3 Gaudreau is a Louisiana-bred bay colt by Nyquist, the 2016 Kentucky Derby winner who was named by his owner, J. Paul Reddam, after one of his favorite hockey players, longtime Detroit Red Wings star Gustav Nyquist. Racehorse Gaudreau is owned by the partnership of Tanglewood Thoroughbreds, Thirty Year Racing, Bradley Thoroughbreds, Rodeo Creek Racing, Laura Leigh Stable, and Swift Thoroughbreds. He won his career debut Aug. 8 at Saratoga Race Course over Coach Pope and U. S. S. Valor, both of whom came back to record dominant victories in their next starts. Gaudreau will face #5 U. S. S. Valor again in the Champagne and the two figure to vie for favoritism.
It would be a fitting tribute to see one or both of these two promising 2-year-old colts rise to stardom and play a small role in spreading the story of Johnny Gaudreau and his family to a larger audience within a different sport. Johnny was much more than just a star player. After the terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of the Gaudreau brothers, the Columbus Blue Jackets released the following statement:
“Johnny played the game with great joy which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice. He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played from Boston College to the Calgary Flames to Team USA to the Blue Jackets. He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could. The impact he had on our organization and our sport was profound, but pales in comparison to the indelible impression he made on everyone who knew him.”
Johnny Gaudreau’s joy for the sport will always be remembered within the hockey community – and now, in a small way, at the racetrack, too.
