A horse named for Big Dom won its debut at Saratoga. Is the Kentucky Derby in his future?

Dom DiSandro’s fame has reached the world of thoroughbred racing.

On Saturday afternoon, Big Dom, a horse named after the Eagles chief security officer, earned a first-place finish in his debut race at Saratoga Race Course. The 2-year-old colt outlasted Dr. Kupar in a tight finish.

It’s also fitting that Big Dom’s jockey, Jose Ortiz, was wearing green silks during the victory. Green and white are the trademark colors for Greenwell Thoroughbreds, which bought the horse in September.

Greenwell’s owner, Greg Tramontin, was looking to purchase a filly when his team spotted a young McKinzie colt for sale. Before Tramontin even purchased the colt, he already had his name picked out: Big Dom.

“I met [Dom DiSandro] and he’s just such an interesting human being and larger than life,” Tramontin said. “I had to name the horse after him.”

Tramontin, a Baton Rouge, La., native, was introduced to DiSandro through former Eagles punter Donnie Jones, a member of the 2017-18 Super Bowl team who is also from Baton Rouge. The two have become close friends over the years and often golf together. When Tramontin had to attend a board meeting in Philadelphia after selling his insurance company last summer, Jones joined him during the visit and they attended Eagles training camp.

“That night, [Jones] set up dinner with Big Dom at the Saloon,” Tramontin said. “We had a great evening, talked. He is a character and a half, he was fun. We got into Jason and Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift. He was like, ‘I have Taylor Swift on speed dial.’ I said, ‘No, you don’t.’ He showed me and I was like, ‘Well, I’ll be damned.’

“I said, ‘If I ever get a colt, I’m going to name it [after you].’ And this was prior to buying the horse, this was August of last year. So, I bought the horse and I was like, I’m going to name it Big Dom.”

Big Dom is trainer Tom Amoss’ second debut winner in less than two weeks — following an impressive Aug. 16 win with It’s Our Time, who was a training partner with Big Dom in preparation for both of their races.

“It’s Our Time is a standout 2-year-old in our barn,” Amoss said. “And the way we do it when we’re preparing to run is we match up our horses a lot against one another and see who’s better, where they’re standing in the pecking order, and they were partners. They worked against each other leading up to their races. So, when It’s Our Time won a week before, Big Dom showed his hand. You knew he was going to run well.”

Big Dom’s next race with Greenwell Thoroughbreds, named after Tramontin’s late father James William Greenwell, is on Oct. 4 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. That’s a Grade 1 race, putting winners through to the Breeders’ Cup and earning points toward the Kentucky Derby.

“Not that he’s a Derby horse, because we have a long way to go,” Tramontin said. “But he potentially has that talent.”