'I was just inspired by his story — he was a very kind person but a fierce competitor and that's what you want in a horse.'

Devon Bradley was so inspired by Johnny Gaudreau that she initially locked down the rights to two names from the ex-Calgary Flames star for her thoroughbred horses.

But she ultimately settled for one of the colts from the Lexington Kentucky-based Bradley Thoroughbreds taking the name of the one-time Flame.

“The name Johnny Hockey was taken when I hadn’t re-upped (the registration with the Jockey Club), I let it lapse” said Bradley, speaking on the phone from New York state on the eve of Saturday’s Champagne Stakes race.

But that was OK, she said, because one of her two-year-olds bears the name Gaudreau, who just happens to be running against a thoroughbred going by the name of Johnny Hockey at the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park.

“The fact they’re both in the race is awesome, I couldn’t tell you what the chances of that — they’re not very high,” said Bradley, whose entry is being ridden by jockey Flavien Prat.

“In a field of 30 two-year-old colts, two are named after one person, so it goes to show how inspiring Johnny Gaudreau was.”

Gaudreau was born in January 2024 about a month apart from a colt christened Johnny Hockey by Vincent Conanan of Next Level Stables.

Conanan had played hockey with Johnny Gaudreau as a teen and was also determined to honour the NHL sensation who died a Columbus Blue Jacket following eight seasons with the Flames.

For Saturday’s race, Johnny Hockey was considerably more of long shot than Gaudreau to win.

Gaudreau, 31, and his younger brother Matthew were killed Aug. 29, 2024, when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver as they rode bicycles along a rural road in Oldmans Township, N.J., where they’d gathered for their sister’s wedding.

The accused motorist, Sean Higgins, is awaiting trial on multiple charges, including two counts of reckless vehicular homicide.

Bradley said she was impressed with Johnny Gaudreau’s character and was moved by how the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team honoured him last winter by bringing his children onto the ice after winning the gold medal in Milan.

“I was just inspired by his story — he was a very kind person but a fierce competitor and that’s what you want in a horse,” she said.

“It’s a really strong, classy name.”

Gaudreau is the progeny of champion racehorse Nyquist, himself named after a hockey player, Swede Gustav Nyquist.

Another of Nyquist’s children is Gretzky the Great, “so a lot of that stallion’s offspring has hockey in it,” said Bradley.

Thoroughbred Gaudeau, she said, “is unbelievably relaxed, kind and gentle in the barn but as soon as there’s tack on him, he’s focused.”

Her father, who founded the family stables, loved Gaudreau as a yearling, added his daughter.

Johnny Hockey has raced six times and chalking up one victory and one third-place finish.

Gaudreau in his baptismal race, also at Belmont, in August showed a competitive streak by winning, said Bradley.

“We’ll find out more Saturday if he’s (truly) competitive,” she said of a race whose winner could be on the path to competing in the Kentucky Derby.

“It certainly could be the first step.”

X: @BillKaufmannjrn