JOHN BRENNAN PASSES

[arniesarmy]

NEW YORK (AP) — The first person to die in New Jersey from the new coronavirus disease was a longtime fixture in the harness racing industry, and his death has prompted the closure of a track outside New York City.

John Brennan died Tuesday at Hackensack University Medical Center, about a week after he had reported to his primary care doctor with a fever and cough. Brennan, 69, lived in Little Ferry, a New Jersey suburb just north of the Meadowlands sports complex, about 5 miles west of New York City.

He worked at Yonkers Raceway, a harness racing track that is just 4 miles from the center of one of the largest pockets of the virus in the U.S., in the New York suburb of New Rochelle.

Brennan worked for many years as a harness racing trainer before becoming a field representative for the Standardbred Owners Association of New York, a job in which he represented drivers in disputes with track management.

Officials in Bergen County, New Jersey, didn’t identify Brennan when announcing his death Tuesday. A close friend of Brennan’s confirmed his death to The New York Times.

COVID-19 usually presents only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority of people recover. But for older adults and people with other health problems, it can be worse. New Jersey health officials said Brennan had underlying medical conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

In a statement Tuesday, MGM Resorts International, which owns the track and adjacent casino, said the track would be shut down, and it urged employees to self-quarantine. Brennan was believed to have last visited the track March 2, according to the statement.

“We will continue to coordinate with and follow the guidance of health officials and support them in their response and prevention efforts,” the company said.

Associates of Brennan remembered a larger-than-life figure who hailed from Queens and brought some big-city attitude with him.

“He was just a fun-loving guy who had a great sense of humor,” said John Campbell, the highest-earning driver in harness racing history, who drove horses trained by Brennan at New Jersey’s Meadowlands Racetrack. “As a trainer, he was a good horseman; he really understood the game.”

Brennan’s job as field representative would require him to attend races almost every night, Campbell said.

Retired driver Bill O’Donnell, the head of the Central Ontario Standardbred Association, was friends with Brennan since the late 1970s, when they met at the track in Saratoga, New York. O'Donnell said that he drove Brennan-trained horses through the 1980s and '90s and that the two men developed a close friendship.

“He was a big, gruff guy, but he had a heart as big as the sky,” O’Donnell said. “In other words, a typical New Yorker.”

Brennan’s neighbors in Little Ferry said they were surprised and alarmed by news of his death.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” said Christine Voto, who said Brennan had been sick for about two weeks and “did not look well.”

“Yes, people die from the flu, but this is something altogether different," she said.

[TimTimTimbo]

Story on Stuff confirms Auckland bloodstock agent John Curtin is suspected of having Coronavirus. He was in New York last week fraternising with friends of the now deceased Yonkers rep John Brennan.

[TimTimTimbo]

Curtin has been involved in the horse racing industry for 40 years and runs the Harnlesslink news website along with the JC International bloodstock agent.


A week and a half ago, on Monday March 2, he was at Yonkers Raceway in New York, getting his licence to race horses there.

That night, he and his wife Sally were at a dinner with friends of American horseman John Brennan, who were coughing and sneezing throughout, though Brennan himself was not in attendance.

On Wednesday, it was reported Brennan died of coronavirus aged 69, becoming the first fatality to the disease in New Jersey.

[Gregory Rich]

HI PLOPSTERS! I JUST JOINED HOPING TO FIND OUT ABOUT A MAN FROM MY PAST WHO FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, RACED STANDARDBRED HORSES - HIS NAME WAS JOHN BRENNAN. HE WAS OUR SCOUTMASTER AND HE SURE LOVED US GUYS. I WAS TOLD HE DIED RECENTLY? BOTULISM? IS THAT POSSIBLE? THANK YOU.

[Gregory Rich]

I am a little surprised by that response. Mr. Brennan was just a big, fun-loving guy. Although now that I think about it, he was always wrestling with us boys.

[Gregory Rich]

Hey B Ryan, I wasn’t looking to make any enemies. I’m sorry you misunderstood my intentions. I was just wondering about an old friend. Be happy - and be safe.

[harnessplop]

Stop nonsense

[bond]

YOU SICK FUCK, BIG JOHN DIED FROM COVID 19... (FIRST CONFIRMED CASE IN JERSEY) NOT BOTULISM...OH I GET THE SICK HUMOR...BOTULISM_ BAD MEAT IN THE CAN?? SICK FUCK..IF I DIDNT KNOW BETTER, I'D THINK YOU WERE THAT IDIOT JUDGE UP IN SARATOGA!

Sorry Mr Barry--John Brennan did NOT die from Covid19 although im sure that in NY he was added to the total.NY made $$$.
HE DIED WITH COVID19 PRESENT AND HE PASSED IT TO OTHERS-BUT HE DIED FROM A HEART ATTACK.
John Brennan had serious health issues-heart disease was one of them. When he got sick with Covid19-(he also had the flu)-he went to hospital and while there had a heart attack-code blue. They managed to resuscitate him the first time-but the next day he had another heart attack-and this time they could not revive him-he died. RIP big John.

[HornbyDuke]

Luv the conversation between the barry/rich guy! A couple of new Tim's appear. Two new guys that both happen to be exactly in tune to the same conversation.

Also to this clown,  quite classy to disparage some dead guy when he's not around to defend himself. Most of the Tim's comments lack a basic appreciation of the bounds of human decency.

Go at it though guy, post away.

[Fatboy]

Luv the conversation between the barry/rich guy! A couple of new Tim's appear. Two new guys that both happen to be exactly in tune to the same conversation.

Also to this clown,  quite classy to disparage some dead guy when he's not around to defend himself. Most of the Tim's comments lack a basic appreciation of the bounds of human decency.

Go at it though guy, post away.

MORE TIMS AGREED

[Gregory Rich]

Hey Bond, thank you for the mature, intelligent explanation. And duke, can’t sneak anything past you. You nailed it. Time to get back to work on that virus vaccine. B Ryan, you bloated load of crap, don’t you have some $50 fines to be laying out for some morphine positives? Nice people.