Gretzky the Great will make his 3-year-old debut as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in Friday’s $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park. The race will offer 17 qualifying points toward.
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- Santiago Gonzalez A 33-year-old native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Gonzalez arrived in Southern California two years ago with zero name recognition and dim prospects for success on one of the nation’s.
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Gary Bergsrud has been around horses his whole life. After watching his father train and run horses in Devils Lake, North Dakota, he knew he wanted to own horses one day. Bergsrud met his wife and partner Brenda (pictured above with jockey Santiago Gonzalez) at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Canada. He owned horses there and she was working for a trainer at the time. The couple went on to own horses together and include their son, T.J. Bergsrud, to manage their horses as well.
After purchasing horses for a few years, the Bergsrud decided to breed and raise their own. “The horses that we had been buying just didn’t work out and we thought we could raise better horses,” he said. Recent success has proven them right.
In July of 2007, Bergsrud came to Canterbury Park after being persuaded by his friend and fellow horse owner Bernell Rhone. “We wanted to run better horses and needed a higher level track to race them at,” Bergsrud said. His first horse to run at Canterbury Park, Alacazar, won and Bergsrud and his family have been entering their horses here ever since.
Sandra Sweere has been training the Bergsrud’s horses for the past five years. “Sandra has been very good for us and always does her best to meet our horses’ needs,” Gary said. The couple currently own four horses at Canterbury Park and commute from their home in Rolla, North Dakota to watch them race.
Bergsrud says that when owning a horse at any level it is important to “stay on top of things.” He adds that “it can be very easy to get a little behind on the management side of things, but if you are dedicated enough it will all work out.”
To stay on top of things, Bergsrud checks in on the horses at least two times a week to see how they are doing. “We have little time to do anything besides taking care of our horses and that’s the way we like it,” Bergsrud said.
A favorite memory that Bergsrud has is seeing Pinup Girl win the $50,000 Lady Slipper Stakes race at Canterbury Park earlier this meet. “She and Santiago Gonzalez had a great ride here and we expect a big year for her,” he said.
Bergsrud’s favorite part about breeding his own horses is having the chance to see them develop and watch them run. “The whole process can take a lot of time and energy, but it is all worth it when you see your horse win,” he said.
Santiago Gonzalez Jockey
ARCADIA, Calif. -- Jockey Santiago Gonzalez fractured his jaw in an accident in the fifth race at Santa Anita on Sunday and will miss approximately six weeks, his agent, Craig Stephen, said Monday.
Stephen said the jaw was not displaced, and therefore Gonzalez will not need to have the jaw wired shut.
'His face is pretty beat up,' Stephen said. 'He has stitches all over his face.'
Santiago Gonzalez Jockey Bio
Stephen said the most significant cut, on Gonzalez's chin near the fracture, was 'half-moon shaped,' and he theorized that Gonzalez may have been clipped by a trailing horse.
'That one's a good five inches long,' Stephen said. 'That explains the broken jaw.'
Stephen also said Gonzalez's right leg was bothering him, though nothing was broken. 'He has trouble standing on it now,' Stephen said.
Gonzalez is the second-leading rider at the meet behind Rafael Bejarano.
The incident occurred with three furlongs to go in the six-furlong race when Gonzalez's mount, Follini -- who had been difficult to control to that point in the race -- appeared to clip the heels of another horse, dislodging Gonzalez.
Santiago Gonzalez Jockey Santa Anita
He was taken by ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital in nearby Pasadena.
Santiago Gonzalez In Jockey
Follini was not hurt in the incident. He continued on after losing Gonzalez and was caught by an outrider.
Santiago Gonzalez Jockey
Follini is trained by Mark Glatt. Last September at Los Alamitos, Gonzalez and Flavien Prat -- both riding horses trained by Glatt -- were injured in an accident caused when Prat's mount, Discreetlyhumorme, stumbled on his own accord and fell. Prat fractured several vertebrae and missed several months. Gonzalez was badly bruised but only missed a few days of action.