Page 6 - November 2005 The Game

6 The Game, November 2005 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Nick Gonzalez looking for first title
Trainer Nick Gonzalez has been training horses for more than three decades and this year he is about to be rewarded with his first leading trainer title in his career.
At time of print for The Game, Nick was at the top of the trainer standings at Fort Erie with 51 wins and $568,870 in purse earnings. With only 5 racing days left in the 2005 meet it looks as though second place trainer Lyle Morden (39 wins) will have his job cut out for him if he hopes to catch the veteran Gonzalez.
A native of Niagara Falls, Nick has enjoyed much success the last few years both at Fort Erie and Woodbine with 18 horses in training at the Fort and 8 in training at Woodbine in 2005.
The Nick Gonzalez trained, Wholelottabourbon, won Champion
2-year-old honours in 2004 and was a Woodbine stakes winner in 2005 along with Wannatalkaboutme who won the My Dear Stakes in July.
His previous success included Parnitha, whom Nick says, “taught him how to train a good horse.”
Parnitha won 35 of his career 38 wins for Nick and more than $300,000 in purses, back in the day when allowance races were worth $15,000. There is currently a stake race named in Parnitha’s honour at Fort Erie.
Fort Erie Trainer Standings Oct 24: Nick Gonzalez 167-51-28-27 $568,870 Lyle Morden 151-39-26-25 $352,005 Thomas Agosti 126-25-21-13 $257,430 John Simms 117-24-13-16 $288,140 Ross Armata 90-22-11-19 $222,505
Did You Know....
That trainer Nick Gonzalez has applied for 25 stalls for Frank Stronach horses at Tampa Bay Downs for the winter meet. Nick has been training some runners at Fort Erie for the Stronach Stables since
mid-June this year and has accumulated 15 wins for his new client, 13 at Fort Erie and two at Woodbine. Nick is likely to be named leading trainer and Stronach Stables leading owner at Fort Erie for 2005.
Did You Know.....
That Fort Erie trainer Campbell Wilson will be heading to Hot Springs Arkansas for winter racing at Oaklawn Park. Campbell has
spent the last four years at Oaklawn galloping horses during the winter for other trainers however this year he is bringing two of his own un-raced horses which will likely compete at the meet.
Chad Beckon Loses Bug
Jockey Chad Beckon talks to trainer John Simms before a race at Fort Erie in October
Chad Beckon is now a journeyman jockey after losing his ‘bug’ allowance on October 20. He is hoping to hang on to the leading rider title this year at the Fort and with six days left (at press time) to the 2005 race meet, he will have to be on his best behavior but he certainly has some breathing room. Last year’s leading rider, Neil Poznansky is seventeen wins behind in second and as everyone knows anything can happen in this game of racing.
It is likely that the title will go to Chad after an excellent season in 2005. He currently has 95 wins and $1,167,695 in purse earnings.
“All of my winners were at Fort Erie this year.” said Chad mentioning that he rode at Woodbine as well. “This is everything I wanted in my career, I’ll never forget it and hopefully it will carry on.”
Chad acknowledged that his riding career has had a
rocky start and that he has had his share of ups and downs, “But I knew that from my Dad (Dan Beckon). I started off hard which showed me that this business wasn’t easy.”
“People have been good to me and I will never forget them for giving me the opportunities that I have had this year.”
After the end of the Fort Erie meet Chad plans to finish off 2005 at Woodbine before heading to Florida for the winter where he plans to work with and meet new trainers to get ready for 2006.
Fort Erie Jockey Standings as of October 24, 2005: Chad Beckon 593-95-101-87 $1,167,695
Neil Poznansky 428-78-67-54 $1,000,055
Cory Clark 416-66-51-49 $731,190
Christopher Griffith 416-56-55-52 $714,135 Brian Bochinski 446-55-60-57 $727,425
Did You Know....
That Fort Erie trainer Daryl Ezra filled in for track announcer Daryl Wells while he was away at a conference at the beginning of
October. Ezra was a standardbred race caller for a stint before becoming a thoroughbred trainer.
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