The current ‘Big Horse’ of the Nicholas Gonzalez barn is none other than Big Red Mike, the upset winner of the Plate Trial Stakes on June 13. “We’ve had a plan from last year when he broke his maiden (December 6). We brought him to Florida. Things clicked right from the first of the year until today,” said trainer Nick Gonzalez, after the Plate Trial.
Big Heart – Even though the Plate Trial fractions were comfortable, the tempo picked up in the final three-eighths of a mile and Big Red Mike was in the fight of his life to prevail over Mobilizer in the Plate Trial. There’s no doubting the chestnut’s willingness to win as he battled courageously to keep his nose in front. “The thing that impressed me the most was when he got engaged – carrying 126 pounds and first time going that far. I was very proud of him that he dug in the way he did. He beat some good horses,” said Gonzalez. “The horse is a fighter. He’s won on the inside before. He’s fought some tough hard races on the outside. He’s just that kind of horse where the competition is good for him.”
Big Nerves – ‘Mike’ provided a couple of anxious moments for his backers in the Plate Trial post parade when he reared up and sent jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva flying. Gonzalez said he’s used to the colt’s antics. “I’ve seen him do a few more tricks than that in the morning. Eurico cowboyed up and jumped back on him. He’s got the talent and he’s got a couple of tricks. When you have a horse like that, you just have to tolerate it. He needs some more preparation if we want to go to the big dance,” said Gonzalez.
Big Speed? – Despite spending time in the morning working on rating Big Red Mike, Gonzalez returned to first principles in the Plate Trial because of the lack of early speed types signed on. The lessons may come in handy should another horse want the lead in the Queen’s Plate. “He’s a headstrong horse and the Plate Trial came up paceless. He was pretty well going to be in front – just because there was no other speed in the race,” said Gonzalez. “Weeks before the Plate Trial, we were trying to get him to rate. We worked him in behind horses and it seemed like he was being kind.”
Big Barn – Trainer Nicholas Gonzalez, who is in the Plate for the first time, celebrated his 1,000th career victory on June 21. An accounting correction (a few hours earlier) credited the conditioner with his official 1,000th win milestone, but Gonzalez and his team will forever remember hitting the grand mark, with Boca Pass, at their home track of Fort Erie, where a champagne shower awaited in the winner’s circle.
Big Family – Big Red Mike is sired by Tenpins, who was one of the first sons of world class Smart Strike to win a stakes event and go on to a stud career. The colt’s dam is Regent ‘N Flashy, who earned a mention in the Queen’s Plate context in 2002 when one of her first foals Classic Mike was one of the favorites. Classic Mike was by Smart Strike, making he and his younger brother very closely related.
Owner – Terra Farm
Terra Farm is owned by 80-year-old Dom Romeo, who has been involved in racing for over 30 years after being first introduced to the game by Ed Seedhouse, whose Dane Hill Acres raced a barnful of stakes winners, like Good Old Mort, throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Born in Italy, raised in Toronto but now residing in King Township, Romeo has been in the car dealership business for 50 years. He operates Pine View Pontiac Buick and Oakville Toyota.
He has owned and bred a number of very good horses over the years, with multiple stakes winner Bold n’ Flashy, trained by Debbie England, likely his best, a crack sprinter who earned almost $400,000. He’s still co-owned by Romeo and currently stands at T.C. Westmeath Stud Farm of John Carey.
Romeo also bred and raced Flashy ‘n Smart, a stakes winner who was third in the 1997 Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes in New York.
In 2001, he consigned one of the toppers at the 2001 September yearling sale, a colt by Tale of the Cat out of Regent n’ Flashy, a half-brother to Classic Mike and Big Red Mike, bought by Stubbs Investments for $150,000. The colt, named Hypercat, was 1-for-6.
In 2006, Terra Racing Stable won the $200,000 Scotts Highlander with Marco Be Good.
Romeo names a lot of his horses after his “many grandchildren.” Big Red Mike is the third ‘Mike’ out of this mare. Classic Mike was followed by five-time winner Bright Mike, two years later.
Last year, Terra Racing won three races with Daniel Be Good, who was third in two stakes, and two races with Flashy Got Even, who was runner-up in the Bison City.
Trainer – Nicholas Gonzalez
Born on January 26, 1952, Gonzalez resides in Fort Erie, Ontario. In partnership with his capable assistant and wife Martha Gonzalez, Nick operates large, successful stables at both of Ontario’s thoroughbred racetracks.
The Gonzalez couple, who met at Woodbine in the early 1980s, resides in Fort Erie. They decided to juggle their outfit’s split demands by acquiring a condominium near Humber College. Martha, who was born in France and raised in North Bay, no longer has to drive from Fort Erie every morning. She handles the 20-strong string at Woodbine. Nick, who looks after 40 at Fort Erie, spends busy weekends in Toronto.
Gonzalez, who won his first race on May 23, 1976, and his first stakes in the 2000 Muskoka with Prettyaspuppies, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in success over the past several years. In 2001, he won five races at Woodbine from 37 starts. Since then, the outfit’s win total has climbed each year. With better stock and a balanced approach, the stable has enjoyed unprecedented success at Woodbine.
In 2004, Gonzalez had a dream season with Wholelottabourbon, who captured three stakes and was voted Canada’s champion two-year-old, the first such honour for the veteran trainer.
In 2007, the stable finished the season with 31 wins and earnings of $1,851,417, which is almost $1 million more than in 2006. The story of 2007 was Gonzalez’s stakes success. He won seven stakes races with six different runners (Stuck in Traffic, Delaforce, Artie Hot, My List, Executrix and Shilla). Delaforce’s Kingarvie score was career win No. 800 for Gonzalez. He also hit the board with 15 of his 33 stakes starters.
In 2008, it became even more dominant. Gonzalez won five of the first 17 stakes on the calendar, including the Achievement with Stuck in Traffic and the Hendrie with My List. He finished the season with 33 wins and a career-high $2,337,000 in earnings.
In 2009, the Gonzalez barn banked over $2 million for the second straight season, winning 43 races at Woodbine and adding a meet-leading 61 at Fort Erie. It won two stakes: the New Providence with Stuck In Traffic and the Steady Growth with Michael’s Bad Boy. Gonzalez ranked 20th in Woodbine tallies from 2000 through 2009 with 191 from 1080 starts (rate of 17.7%).
In 2010, a victory in the Plate Trial Stakes has given him a shot at a $1 million purse in the July 4 Queen’s Plate. On June 21, he celebrated his 1,000th career victory with Boca Pass at Fort Erie.
Jockey – Eurico Rosa da Silva
Eurico Rosa da Silva won 500-plus races over a five-year span while competing in Brazil and close to 300 victories in four and a half years in Macau. He counts the Brazil Derby, a two-mile Grade 1 turf race, among his most memorable scores.
After contacting Irwin Driedger, a former champion rider and former president of the Jockey’s Benefit Association of Canada, da Silva immersed himself in the Woodbine racing community, early in 2004. “I don’t know how long it will take for me to be a top jockey here. But that’s what I’d like to achieve. I want to win all the races I’m in. My heart is in my throat when I win. It’s as though I am saying, ‘I can do it.’ It’s a great feeling,” he said in 2004.
The native of Sao Paulo began his riding tenure in Canada three weeks after the 2004 Thoroughbred season started. Da Silva made his first year at Woodbine a memorable one, recording two added-money wins and $2,116,932 in purse earnings. Mona Rose (fourth in balloting for Canada's Champion Turf Female) made things twice as nice for da Silva, who ranked 13th in the colony, taking the Dance Smartly and Belle Geste Stakes. His first Toronto oval score came aboard Point Hidden on May 20.
After finishing 11th in the standings in 2005, da Silva upped his win total by 19 in 2006 and his purse earnings by nearly $400,000.
It was a breakout campaign for da Silva in 2007, who won 83 races (22 more than in 2006), ranking sixth overall. He also netted six (more than his three previous seasons combined) Woodbine stakes wins.
The fan favourite didn’t miss a beat in 2008, including his win with Haveubeentoldtoday in the Woodbine opener on April 5. He topped the 100-win mark at Woodbine for the first time (105) , won 13 stakes races, second-best mark in the category, took the Whimsical and Hendrie with My List, the Royal North and Seaway with Akronism and partnered Canada’s Horse of the Year and champion sprinter in 2008, Fatal Bullet, to three stakes wins and a second-place finish to Midnight Lute in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. He was also a finalist for the top rider Sovereign Award.
Last year was highlighted by 16 stakes victories and a win in the Canadian classic, the Queen’s Plate, with Eye of the Leopard.
So far in 2010, he has three stakes wins with high-profile horses, Big Red Mike and Biofuel (2). He is currently second behind Patrick Husbands in the Woodbine jockey standings through June 27.