Florida Panthers Owner Adds to $6 Billion Net Worth Following Horse Racing Win at Saratoga

4 min read

What do the Florida Panthers and horse racing have in common? It’s the Panthers’ owner, Vincent Viola. Yes, the native New Yorker is a serious horse racing enthusiast. And we’re not talking about some amateur who delves into a hobby during his spare time. Vincent Viola is a Kentucky Derby winner who backed Always Dreaming when he won the Run for the Roses in 2017.

Now, nearly a decade on from winning arguably the biggest race in sport, Viola’s Panthers have also won the Stanley Cup twice, in 2024 and 2025. However, it seems Vinnie Viola is busy replicating success on the racetrack when his team is taking a break from dominating the NHL. Not only have Viola’s horses run multiple races this year, but he keeps winning and adding to his $6.3 billion net worth.

The Florida Panthers owner’s latest success came at the Saratoga Race Course. “Only thing missing from SAR today is the Stanley Cup. One race after Florida Panthers owner Vinnie Viola wins Race 2 with Noble Confessor,” Daily Racing Form’s David Grening posted on X. Noble Confessor was dominant in its Maiden Special Weight, 1 and 3/16 mile run on the turf.

“Noble Confessor ($5) gets loose on lead and is able to hold off Orgonite by a half-length to win SAR 2nd. @iradortiz for @PletcherRacing 6-2-4-3,” David Grening wrote in another post. The 3-year-old won his owner a cool $100,000 in Race 2. Yet, the Cats’ owner winning at Saratoga wasn’t the only reason Grening referenced the Stanley Cup.

NHL, Eishockey Herren, USA Stanley Cup Final-Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers Jun 17, 2025 Sunrise, Florida, USA Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner, presents Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett 9 the Conn Smythe Trophy after winning game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena. Sunrise Amerant Bank Arena Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xSamxNavarrox 20250617_hlf_na2_156

Right after the St. Elias Stable owner’s win, the two-year-old colt won Race 3. Yet what was even more interesting about the $80,000 Race 3 winner was the colt’s name: Bobrovsky. “2-year-old colt Bobrovsky gallops by 10 1/2 lengths in the 3rd under @iradortiz for Dale Romans. @FlaPanthers,” David Grening added. While Vincent Viola has owned the Florida Panthers for over a decade, his love for horse racing runs deeper.

Racing came before the Florida Panthers

Vincent Viola, who launched Virtu Financial in 2008, became the owner of the NHL club five years later, in 2013. However, his love for horse racing started when the billionaire was just a kid. The son of a truck driver from Brooklyn, New York, Viola’s father took him to Belmont Park and the Aqueduct to watch horse races. “I went to the racetrack as a young man with my dad regularly,” he said as per an NYRA Press Office report.

“My dad taught me how to calculate odds, watch odds and figure out the impact of money in the mutuel pools, so from a mathematics and handicapping standpoint he taught me a lot about the game,” revealed the West Point graduate. Yet, as interested as he was in horse racing, the Florida Panthers’ owner could only dream of having his own steed in the race.

Credits: Instagram/Churchill Downs

 

“I’ve been a real fan of the sport, but I never imagined that I would own a horse or help manage horses at this level. I would say it was a childhood romance,” he added. That romance became reality when Virtu Financial blew up and the company went public in 2015. And as the wealth flowed, Viola pursued his dream of racing in the biggest events in horse racing.

Today, the Kentucky Derby winner’s horses have run and won the individual Triple Crown races. Today, St. Elias Stable owns multiple G1 winners like Mindframe. In fact, Mindframe has had an excellent 2025 season so far, beating stars like Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone at the G1 Stephen Foster and Churchill Downs Stakes. Last year, the Florida Panthers owner’s horse placed second at the Belmont and Haskell Stakes.

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