Gonzales (27 January 1977 – after 1996) was an American-bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse and

sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" a ...

. Unraced as a two-year-old he established himself as a high-class stayer in the following year winning the

Gallinule Stakes The Gallinule Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it is schedu ...

, Blandford Stakes, and

Irish St Leger The Irish St Leger is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 6 furlongs (2,816 metres), and it i ...

as well as starting favourite for the

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a ...

. He was then sent to the United States where he was campaigned for two years to little effect. He made little impact as a breeding stallion.

Background

Gonzales was a "big" bay horse with a white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

bred in Kentucky by

Nelson Bunker Hunt Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar tried to corner the world market in silver ...

. As a

yearling Yearling may refer to: *Yearling (horse), a horse between one and two years old *''The Yearling ''The Yearling'' is a novel by American writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, published in March 1938. It was the main selection of the Book of the Mo ...

he was put up for auction and sold for $750,000 to representatives of the British businessman

Robert Sangster Robert Edmund Sangster (23 May 1936 – 7 April 2004)

. He was sent to Europe where he was trained by

Vincent O'Brien Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Post''. In ...

Ballydoyle Ballydoyle is a racehorse training facility located in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is a sister thoroughbred facility to Coolmore Stud, and both are owned by John Magnier, son in law to the racehorse trainer Vincent O'Brien. The current train ...

His sire, Vaguely Noble, won the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, over a distance ...

in 1968 before becoming a successful breeding stallion whose best progeny included

Dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...

Exceller Exceller (May 12, 1973 – April 7, 1997) is widely considered one of the best horses to race in the United States not to win a year-end championship. Despite his exemplary achievements as a racehorse, and his unique accomplishment in being the ...

and

Empery Empery (foaled 1973 in Kentucky) was an American-bred, French-trained racehorse best known for winning the 1976 Epsom Derby. In a racing career which lasted from September 1975 until July 1976 he ran eight times and won two races. Empery showed ...

. Gonzales' dam Gazala was an exceptional racehorse who won the

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) at ...

and the

Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,100 met ...

in 1967. She was even better as a broodmare producing several good winners including

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

and Gonzales' full-brother Mississippian (

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Racing career

1980: three-year-old season

Gonzales was not raced as a juvenile and began his track career in a minor race over ten

furlongs A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is an Ireland, Irish horse-racing venue, located in Leopardstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, 8 km south of the Dublin city centre. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Th ...

in April 1980 and won by six

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

. He was then moved up in class and distance for the

over one and a half miles at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

in May in which he was ridden by

Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest f ...

and won by three lengths from

Dermot Weld Dermot K. Weld (born 29 July 1948), a former jockey is one of Ireland's most successful racehorse trainers. He holds the record for the most winners trained in Ireland (2,578 set in August 2000). Weld maintains his stable, Rosewell House, in ...

-trained Good Thyne. Piggott was again in the saddle on 8 June when Gonzales was sent to France and started 9/4 favourite for the

over 2400 metres at

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred turf racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the country's main hors ...

. After being restrained towards the rear of the field he stayed on steadily in the straight but never looked likely to win and finished fifth behind

Policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. After a break of three months, Gonzales returned in the Blandford Stakes over one and a half miles at the Curragh in which he was ridden by Tommy Murphy. He started the odds-on favourite and won by a neck from the five-year-old mare My Hollow. Later that month he was stepped back up to

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

class for the Joe McGrath Memorial Stakes over ten furlongs at Leopardstown and finished fifth behind his four-year-old stablemate Gregorian, looking to be outpaced in the closing stages. On 11 October, Gonzales was stepped up in distance for the Irish St Leger over one and three-quarter miles at the Curragh in which he was partnered as in his last start by Raymond Carroll. Racing on soft ground he was made the 4/7 favourite ahead of Ramian (third in the

Irish Derby The Irish Derby (Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 ...

) and Good Thyne whilst the other five runners were Capitano, Sheringham, Prancing Prince, El Cito and Sir Mordred. After tracking the leaders in the early stages Gonzales went to the front half a mile from the finish and drew away from his rivals in the straight to win easily by five lengths from Good Thyne with another three lengths back to El Cito in third place. At the end of the year, the independent

Timeform Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by ...

organization gave Gonzales a rating of 120, fifteen pounds inferior to their best stayer

Le Moss Le Moss (3 April 1975 – 17 August 2000) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A specialist stayer, he excelled at distances of two miles and beyond, winning eleven times from fifteen races between 1977 and 1980. He showed good form ...

and seventeen pounds behind their Horse of the Year

Moorestyle Moorestyle (1977–1984) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was unfashionably bred, sold cheaply as a yearling and began his career in minor races. As a three-year-old however, he improved to become the one of the outstanding ...

Later career

In 1981 Gonzales was sent to the United States where he was trained by Charles E. Whittingham and raced in the colors of Gainesway Farm. In that summer he ran three times at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

, running third in two

allowance race Glossary of North American horse racing: Additional glossaries at: *Glossary of Australian and New Zealand punting *Glossary of equestrian terms This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical terminology and jargo ...

s and then finishing unplaced behind Galaxy Libra in the Sunset Handicap. He remained in training as a five-year-old in 1982 but made only one track appearance, running second in an allowance at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

in February.

Stud record

At the end of his racing career, Gonzales was retired to become a breeding stallion in the United States, before being returned to Europe where he was based in Germany from 1991. He does not appear to have sired any significant winners in either location.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1977 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in Ireland Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 8-a Irish Classic Race winners