John J. Lenzini Jr.

John J. "Butch" Lenzini junior (born January 10, 1947 in Weymouth , Massachusetts , † November 13, 1996 in Woodbury , Long Island , New York ) was an American horse trainer . Together with his father John J. Lenzini senior (1921-2001) he trained mainly English thoroughbreds for flat races .

As trainer of the racehorse Aloma's Ruler (1979-2003) he won the Preakness Stakes , the second race of the Triple Crown, with this horse in 1982 . During his career, the horses he trained won several hundred races.

life and career

John J. Lenzini was born on January 10, 1947 as the son of the horse trainer of the same name in the city of Weymouth in the US state of Massachusetts. He grew up horse racing and accompanied his father to racetracks across the country from childhood. His father was already a successful coach in New England and generally on the east coast of the United States at that time . During his youth he spent two summers at his father's side helping him out with his work as a horse trainer. He then attended the University of Rhode Island and Kansas State University for two years and immediately afterwards acquired a coaching license. He followed in his father's footsteps and won his first race with the horse Con (i) put in 1969 at Narragansett Park in Pawtucket , Rhode Island . Soon after, he moved to Maryland , where he worked as a horse trainer for several years.

With the help of Lenzini, the sports-loving building contractor Nathan Scherr from Baltimore acquired the then two-year-old thoroughbred stallion Aloma's Ruler , son of Iron Ruler and the mare Aloma , at an auction for $ 92,000 ( inflation-adjusted (2019): approx. $ 260,320). Both parents had successful ancestors; including Aloma's grandfather Native Dancer . After winning the Nutley Stakes in 1981 and the Bahamas Stakes in January 1982, the horse sustained an ankle injury in February 1982, whereupon Lenzini said he would not continue to use Aloma's Ruler. Nathan Scherr spoke out against Lenzini's proposal and was able to celebrate the most important victory in the horse's career shortly afterwards after winning the Withers Stakes at the Aqueduct Racetrack on May 8, 1982. A few months earlier with an ankle injury before retirement, Aloma's Ruler defeated the Preakness Stakes on May 15, 1982 with jockey Jack Kaenel, the Linkage ridden and favored by Bill Shoemaker . The prize money for the second race of the Triple Crown at this point in time was $ 350,000 (adjusted for inflation (2019): approximately $ 932,879); Aloma's Ruler's odds were 6.90 to 1 (compared to the favorite's 0.50 to 1). After finishing ninth at the Belmont Stakes in early June 1982, the stallion won the Jersey Derby in July of the same year , but suffered another ankle injury at the subsequent Travers Stakes on August 21, 1982 when he still reached second place meant the premature end of his career for him at the age of only three. Subsequently, Aloma's Ruler was used as a breeding stallion, with six of his 18 offspring winning horse races.

In 1984 Lenzini moved to the US state of New York and worked here as a horse trainer, where he was among the ten most successful trainers in the state from 1985 to 1989. In addition to the successful Aloma's Ruler, Lenzini saddled numerous other successful racehorses such as Avie's Gal , Eternal Prince , Once Wild and Boom Towner . Especially in the last few years before his death he was particularly noticeable for his work with the latter horse, whose owner was the businessman Barry K. Schwartz . As a trainer of the horse he won the Sporting Plate Handicap in 1992 and the Toboggan Handicap in 1992. As the trainer of Boom Towner, however, he was soon replaced by the equally experienced Mike Hushion . During his career, the horses Lenzini trained won several hundred races. According to the Equibase database , Lenzini recorded 9,550 starts, 1,643 first places, 1,395 second places, and 1,180 third places, for a total prize pool of US $ 20,988,827 (not adjusted for inflation).

On the afternoon of November 13, 1996, Lenzini was found dead in his apartment in Woodbury on Long Island by Diane Nelson (1965-2017), who jockeyed some of the horses trained by Lenzini and worked as a model. Nothing was announced about the exact cause of death of the 49-year-old. Two days before his death, he saddled two horses for one race each on the Aqueduct Racetrack . He was survived by his father John senior, who continued to work as a horse trainer until his death a little over four years later, his mother Mary, and two sons and a sister.

Literature (selection)

• Jerry Bossert : Butch Lenzini dies; trained Aloma's Ruler . In: Daily News , Nov. 15, 1996, p. 116

Web links

• John J. Lenzini junior at Equibase (English)
• John J. Lenzini Jr., 49, Race Horse Trainer (English)
• John J. Lenzini junior in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Footnotes & individual references

1. ↑ Boom Towner in a television report on YouTube , accessed December 26, 2019