John Fanelli and Ny Traffic take their Philadelphia roots to the Kentucky Derby

There will be another New York bred running in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. This gray colt does not have the resume of favored Tiz the Law, but his ownership group will be heard at fan-less Churchill Downs. Three of the four have Philly roots and run horses at Parx all the time.

John Fanelli grew up in South Philly, first at Sixth and Fitzwater, later at 16th and Mifflin. His dad, who got him interested in horse racing, ran Sidestreet, a nearby bar.

The first two horses Fanelli owned got him a $25,000 return in a single day. He did not win another race for nine months, but he learned the game. He’s been a successful owner for years. But from last Sept. 21 at Parx until now, he has been on an incredible roll.

That day, five hours apart, the gray colt, named Ny Traffic, made his debut, and Math Wizard, a horse Fanelli had claimed for $25,000 in January, won the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at 31-1. Ny Traffic finished third that day at 47-1.

Ny Traffic, born in New York and purchased in Maryland for $22,000, has since raced in New York, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The colt has raced five times in 2020, winning big in Florida before running third, second, second, and second again in major Derby prep races.

Ny Traffic has earned $565,470, but even more impressively has done something that is just about unprecedented in all those Derby preps: improved his Beyer speed figure every time, from an 82 in the Risen Star to an 89 in the Louisiana Derby to a 95 in the Matt Winn to a 101 in the Haskell, one more stride away from running down 3-5 favorite Authentic.

If the colt can improve another 6 or 7 Beyer points in the Derby, he can win it.

“It’s obviously a dream come true,” Fanelli said. “I could have never thought this would happen, especially after last year. For it to happen so quickly, back-to-back success like that in less than a year ...”

Originally trained at Parx by Englishman Harry Wyner, who told Fanelli early on that he had a Derby horse, Ny Traffic is now trained in Florida by Saffie Joseph, the same man who won that Pennsylvania Derby with Math Wizard, a horse that has now earned $1,119,540.

So for an investment of $47,000, the two horses have combined to earn $1,685,010.

“Pretty good investment,” Fanelli said. “I’ve been super blessed to be this lucky.”

He also gets much of the credit. He wanted to claim Math Wizard. After Ny Traffic did not attract enough during the sale to suit his owner, Fanelli made a private deal.

Fanelli bought out Lenny Liberto, his partner in Ny Traffic, but then sold 20% interests to Chuck Zacney (the man behind so many good horses, including Afleet Alex, Cathryn Sophia, and Jaywalk) and Glenn Bennett, who has become a serious player at Parx in recent years. Fanelli later sold a 10% interest in Ny Traffic to Floridian Paul Braverman. Now, they all have a live chance in the Derby.

Fanelli, the general manager of a Nissan dealership in Turnersville, N.J., lives in nearby Williamstown. He has been to the Derby once, in 2012 when Animal Kingdom won.

“Me and my wife went out as part of my business,” Fanelli said. “I did business with a company out there, and they had a tent in the infield, more like a suite really. The funny part is we were heading to Disney directly from there and didn’t put a dollar on Animal Kingdom.”

Fanelli, Zacney, Bennett and however many family members and friends they can get into the track with owners’ tickets will be on the other side of the track this time. And they will put more than a few dollars on Ny Traffic, listed at 20-1 in the morning line.

Before the Haskell, Joseph told Fanelli that Ny Traffic might not win because the colt had gotten sick and missed a scheduled workout. If the colt was only, say, 80% for the Haskell, and did everything but win, maybe the “other” New York bred can really win this Derby.

We are all about to find out.