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Quarter Horses, Quarterbacks & Unanswered Prayers By Pete Herrera
One look was all it took.
In the fall of 1992, blue-eyed teenager J.J. Gonzales walked into the West Las Vegas gymnasium to catch an afternoon volleyball match between his school and the crosstown rival Robertson Cardinals.
Once inside, Gonzales spotted one of
his high school friends in the stands. Seated next to his friend Patricia was a girl Gonzales hadn’t seen before.
“She caught my eye,” says J.J., reminiscing now about that day and that moment that would forever change his life. “She had long, curly, light brown hair. She was a very pretty girl, very attractive.”
She was Antoinette Sanchez, a sophomore at Robertson High. The only thing she and
J.J. shared at the time was their mutual friend Patricia Martinez. That was about to change and as it turned out, the attraction too was mutual.
“Yes, it was,” says Antoinette. “I asked her (Patricia) ‘who is he. Cause he had pretty eyes.’”
Two days later, Antoinette and Patricia were on the phone when J.J. called Patricia’s phone. Patricia put Antoinette on hold and took J.J.’s call. He wanted Patricia to ask Antoinette if it was OK if he called her. Antoinette said yes.
“We met on a Friday and by Sunday, he had called me,” said Antoinette.
Their first date was at Pizza Hut for lunch.
Thirty years, five boys, a lot of spaghetti dinners and a whole bunch of fast horses later, team Gonzales continues to leave its
collective footprints on a wide landscape of the state’s sports venues. From Quarter Horses to quarterbacks, this family knows how to chase and catch success.
All five of Antoinette and J.J.’s sons have grown up to be successful athletes and J.J. now is building a solid career in training after winning over 1,000 races as a Quarter Horse jockey.
The Gonzales’ have been involved with horse racing for generations. J.J.’s parents, James Sr. and Mellie, ran horses at The Downs at Santa Fe, at Albuquerque and in Farmington at what back then was called McGee Park (now SunRay Park). Before that their horses ran in match races at bush tracks in West Texas.
J.J.’s dad trained his horses on the 86-acre Gonzales Ranch, located in the mountains southeast of Las Vegas, N.M. near the village of Sena.
J.J. started exercising horses at the family’s ranch when he was 10 and got his jockey’s license in the summer of 1992 at age 16. His first race at a recognized track was at Santa Fe, where he finished fourth on a thoroughbred named
Noble Instinct.
J.J. & Antoinette.
30 New Mexico Horse Breeder
J.J.’s wife Antoinette.