Fonner Park, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
GRAND ISLAND — On March 8, a horse named Cool Ride won the sixth race at Fonner Park coming out of the Isai Gonzalez barn.
Nothing special about that race, except it was the 600th win of his career for Gonzalez.
And it was a complete surprise to him.
“I’m glad to win races, but I didn’t even know it was happening,” Gonzalez said.
It might mean as much or more to his family than it does to Gonzalez.
“We’re proud of him for getting his 600th win,” said Adriel Gonzalez, his brother and part owner of the GSH Stables that owns many of the Gonzalez’ horses.. “We’re in the middle of the meet so there’s no time to celebrate much. We’re just looking to move forward, adding more wins and keep going strong.”
“The amount that it takes to win just one race, 600 is definitely good.”
Isai Gonzalez has been going strong at Fonner Park for quite a while now. He’s won six trainer’s titles and finished second once since he started coming to the Grand Island track in 2017.
“We’ve done well at Fonner,” Gonzalez said.”We’re going to keep riding to win races.”
Isai Gonzalez has 268 wins at Fonner out of his total which has risen now to 611 for his career.
“I have a good team,” he said. “I could not do it by myself. Not even close. I thank all my people.”
Jockey Kevin Roman has been a big part of that team in recent years. He said he first started riding for Gonzalez about five years ago. He first came to Fonner Park in 2022 and has won three straight jockey’s titles since then with many of those wins coming for Gonzalez.
“He puts in the time and dedication and hard work,” Roman said. “He wants to get better. He pays attention to the details and I think that is the difference between being good and great.”
Gonzalez is second in the trainer’s standings this season with 21 wins, 10 behind leader Mark Hibdon.
Roman said in the racing game, trainers have to stay on top of things. That means entering horses in races they can win and continually trading horses to keep things fresh.
One of his top horses right now is Oregon County, a 7-year-old Arkansas-bred gelding that Gonzalez claimed from Hibdon for $4,000 at Delta Downs in January.
Oregon County has won all three of his races at Fonner Park and will be going for his fourth-straight win in the first race on Friday. He’s a 3-5 morning-line favorite to do just that.
“His horses are running well and coming back well, but this is also a condition game,” Roman said .”So you want to be successful everywhere you go, but if you’re successful everywhere you go, you go to the next town and you’re going to have less conditions.
“So it’s just like everything. He’s good enough, has connections and plays the game well enough that he will restock and get better horses and continue his winning ways.”
There is no reason to think Gonzalez isn’t going to keep winning races, both at Fonner Park and other tracks along the way.
“He loves what he does, and we love the game as well,” Adriel said. “We’re willing to be in the game for many years to come.”
“The entire family is proud of him and we’re happy to support him doing what he loves to do.”
Hoofprints
— Jockey Adrian Ramos suffered a broken wrist after a fall while riding Better Than Candy in the sixth race on Sunday. He’ll be out of action for the remainder of the Fonner Park season.
— There are just two more Sundays of racing at Fonner Park, this weekend and next. After that, Fonner will be on a Friday-Saturday schedule for the final three weekends of racing.
Fonner Park Standings
Jockeys
Name;Sts;1st;2nd;3rd;Win%;$%
Kevin Roman;136;33;36;20;24;65
David Cardoso;95;28;11;7;29;48
Jose lMedina;125;24;20;12;19;45
Ronald Hisby;92;11;12;12;12;38
VictorJadhirBailon;91;9;6;14;10;32
TravisCunningham;90;8;8;12;9;31
NathanHaar;83;6;10;9;7;30
ScottA.Bethke;63;6;3;11;10;32
JaydenR.Ironeyes;94;5;11;9;5;27
AdrianB.Ramos;94;5;9;9;5;24
Trainers
Name;Sts;1st;2nd;3rd;Win%;$%
Mark Hibdon;98;31;14;8;32;54
Isai Gonzalez;95;21;27;13;22;64
David Anderson;90;18;11;10;20;43
Kelli Martinez;82;11;11;9;13;38
Marvin Johnson;42;10;7;6;24;55
Jason Wise;37;7;5;6;19;49
Schuyler Condon;44;5;6;4;11;34
Stetson Rushton;51;4;6;4;8;27
Troy Bethke;24;4;1;3;17;33
Eric Ramaekers;34;3;3;5;9;32
Owners
Name;Sts;1st;2nd;3rd;Win%;$%
Mark Hibdon;95;30;14;8;32;55
GSH Stable LLC;56;13;17;7;23;66
D and L Farms;38;4;7;7;11;47
JL Racing LLC;28;4;6;5;14;54
Garald Wollesen;22;4;2;1;18;32
Troy Bethke;15;4;0;2;27;40
Landis Stables LLC;11;3;3;2;27;73
Martinez Racing;12;3;2;1;25;50
Ryan Belgum;8;3;2;1;38;75
Cavello Veloce Stables;9;3;2;0;33;56
