Page 30 - New Mexico Horse Breeder, Fall

“I enjoyed it at first, but then I started realizing what it was about,” he says. “At least three times a week I’d leave the office at 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning. Sometimes I’d be there for 15 to 18 hours. You were on salary, period. If you did (unpaid) overtime, it was part of the game.”
There were other negative aspects to the job, so slowly but assuredly, corporate America was losing its shine in Juan Carlos’ eyes.
“I got to a point where I thought, I’m not really enjoying this like I expected to,” said Gonzalez. “The money was okay, but not great. I thought, this is never going to end. I was thinking about changing companies.”
Instead, Juan Carlos had to look no further than to what he calls his “family business” to chart his next move. The door to change was about to get wider.
The Gonzalez racing stable has been a prominent and highly successful part of New Mexico’s Quarter Horse racing circuit for years. Juan Gonzalez, Juan Carlos’ dad, has won the All American Futurity twice—with By By JJ in 2003 and Handsome Jack Flash in 2013.
Juan Gonzalez also has had enduring success with New Mexico bred Quarter Horses in stakes races like the New Mexico Spring Futurity, Mountain Top Futurity and New Mexico Classic Futurity.
In fact, the Gonzalez family has a long legacy in Quarter Horse racing. Juan Gonzalez and
his six brothers grew up in Mexico, and all have been trainers at one time or another. When Juan
The winning connections of Suze Returns after her win in the $269,5285 West Texas Futurity at Sunland Park.
28 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Juan Carlos won the 2018 West Texas Futurity-G2 with Suze Returns, who is owned by Joe Rios.