Gallery

Brennan, as spokesperson for his brokerage firm, First Jersey Securities (FJS), during the heyday of FJS’s ubiquitous television and print advertising, circa the 1980s. First Jersey’s ads featured Brennan piloting a helicopter over landmarks like the Eire Canal (pictured here), the Grand Coulee Dam, and the Capitol in Washington DC.In 1980, Newkidontheblock (the horse) assures Brennan (the New Kid on the Block in horse racing): “Don’t worry, boss,” he whispers, “I’ll get the job done the first time out, so bet big.” See Chapter 28 for how that race played out.Butch (Robert, Jr.) and Chris join their father in 1992 when Brennan received the Medal of St. Benedict. Details in Chapter 22, page 364.Brennan and his son Butch (Robert, Jr.) after a winning day at the Saratoga racetrack.Due Process Stables’ Fobby Forbes draws into the 1986 Kentucky Derby as number 16 and gets a dreaded outside post position on an otherwise spectacular day.Bob Quigley, Brennan’s friend, and president of Garden State Park checking out a competitor’s racetrack circa 1984.Father Boniface from St. Benedict’s fame (and my favorite teacher) gets permission from the Abbot to be Due Process Stable’s chaplain for Kentucky Derby weekend and wants to lead Brennan’s best friend, Ron Riccio, and him in a prayer for Fobby Forbes in 1986.Dr. Joe Bocchini, Brennan’s high school friend and classmate in 2023, sixty-one years after their basketball caper.Fr. Edwin Leahy, OSB, St. Benedict’s headmaster of more than 50 years, and Brennan in 2022.Brennan’s father with his seven surviving children and twenty-three grandchildren on the day he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1977.Brennan’s Mom, Agnes, on their first family vacation, mounts a boulder on the Saco River in 1952.Decades after the Trump debacle, Brennan and Roger Bodman reminisce.(Left) As toddlers growing up in North Newark, Brennan hugs his Irish twin brother, Kevin. Brennan’s brother Kevin roaming the halls of St. Benedict’s Prep in 1965, four years prior to losing his life in their parents’ driveway. Garden State Park racetrack under construction in 1984.Brennan’s sons Kevin, Butch, and Chris ushering him to a New York Mets baseball game a few months after release from BOP custody in 2011. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!Friend and prankster Bob Green gets dolled up as a local socialite to surprise Brennan and present a faux trophy to Coach K after a Saratoga Wiffle ball game.Brennan helps former Seton Hall University All-American basketball player, Terry Dehere, escort his namesake horse after his impressive Saratoga win in the Hopeful Stakes in 1993.Coach Bill Parcells welcomes his friend Brennan back to Saratoga in 2012.St. Benedict’s students thank Brennan for the HAB (in background) in 1988.Brennan leaves Trump’s casino with The Donald’s cash in 1991.A friendship forged in prison in 2002, Michael Santos and Brennan.Brennan’s full-page ads fight back against Forbes lies in 1992.The Dehere Gunfighters Death Clock in Times Square in mid-1994 tolling off the gun deaths at the rate of more than one every 15 minutes. The Brennan Pavilion brings top cardiac care to the Jersey Shore in the early 1990s.Senator Chris Jackman and New Jersey Governor Tom Kean celebrate Brennan’s bulletproof vest gift in 1982.Coach K and his wife, Mickie, enjoying the races at Saratoga.Mike (Coach K) and Mickie Krzyzewski handicapping Dehere’s Hopeful Stakes race in the Saratoga paddock in 1993.Brennan and his unwavering good friend Dennis Gaito getting ready to spit roast a whole hog at Due Process Stables’ Ocala, Florida horse and cattle ranch in 1990.The 1987 dedication ceremony of the Robert E. Brennan Recreation Center at his alma mater, Seton Hall University.Brennan loves to joke... Wearing the old man outfit that disrupted the SEC proceedings in 1980, Brennan congratulates his father on his ordination as a Catholic Priest in 1977.Vice President Dan Quayle visits Brennan in New Jersey in 1990.After a delightful three days of hosting two planeloads of friends for Kentucky Derby festivities, Brennan collapses on the flight back to New Jersey.It’s Kentucky Derby Day in 1986, and Brennan is checking out the prognosticators’ opinions of his horse, Fobby Forbes. Yes, he was named to needle the magazine’s editors.Brennan searching for future racing stars at his Kentucky farm in 1986.Ron Riccio and Brennan bid farewell to an exciting Kentucky Derby weekend.Brennan and President Richard Nixon at a Washington DC reunion of an A-list club of Republican US congressmen, circa 1986.Brennan and his son Kevin after a ten-mile run through Saratoga.Brennan plays host at his Saratoga home to his favorite teacher, mentor, long time friend, and fellow horse racing enthusiast, Father Boniface Treanor, O.S.B.Vice President George Bush visits Brennan’s home in 1982.Brennan meeting President Bush and Barbara Bush after retuning from Rome in 1992.President Ronald Reagan and Brennan are all smiles in 1988.Brennan is honored to visit His Holiness Pope John Paul II.New York City Mayor Ed Koch at Brennan’s Jersey Shore home in the early 1980s.President Bush and Barbara Bush greet Brennan at the White House in 1992.Brennan and his son Chris celebrating the Jersey Derby at Garden State Park in 1985.The Vice President and Barbara Bush greet Brennan at their residence.President Reagan encourages Brennan to run for governor at the White House in 1985.Nancy Reagan and the President welcome Brennan back to the White House in 1985.Former President Nixon, Congressman Jim Courter, and Brennan share stories at an annual Chowder and Marching Club gathering in the nation’s Capitol.Pope John Paul II greets Brennan at the Vatican in 1992.Brennan, moments after completing his first marathon. New York City, in 1988.John Perrotta, general manager of Due Process Stables, is reporting to Brennan that his prized broodmare, It’s in the Air, just sold for a world record $4.6 million in 1984.Brennan and his son Kevin after the races at Saratoga in 2017.Bob Green, Brennan’s dear friend and chairman of Parx Racing and Casino, celebrate Green’s marriage in 2018.Brennan and his son Butch (Robert, Jr.) at his alma mater, Cornell University, for a football Game weekend in 2012.Garden State Park racetrack demolition in 2003. Photo courtesy of Nancy Rokos, Eclipse Award Winning photographer and neighbor of the former Garden State Park.Garden State Park racetrack in its heyday, 1985-2001.New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean welcomes Brennan and Vice President George Bush in 1989.New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Brennan congratulate each other as co-keynote speakers at a New York horseman’s convention in 1985. New Jersey Governor Jim Florio and wife Lucinda join Brennan at his home in 1993.Brennan’s provocative response to the hostile Forbes cover story in 1984. Brennan’s Dad, Hank Brennan, in a moment of contemplation at the Saco River in 1952.Brennan’s father says grace at the Bush luncheon.Brennan’s Mom and Dad, circa 1940.Mike Krzyzewzski (Coach K) and Brennan gearing up for their annual Saratoga reunion.Garden State Park, billed as the Racetrack of the 21st Century, is ready for its grand opening in ten days, in 1985.Brennan’s eldest brother, Bubby (Henry), visits him at Fort Dix prison in 2005.Brennan’s brother Kevin about to receive his First Communion, with Brennan serving as altar boy in 1954.Dolores Klein, the matriarch of a family that has been Brennan’s dear friends for fifty years; a patient, loyal manuscript reader and candid reviewer of countless iterations of this book is enjoying a night out with her amazing granddaughters Rebecka and Jessika in 2023.