With horses in five races, Isai Gonzalez poised for a big Wednesday

To say the trainer Isai Gonzalez took Fonner Park by storm when he first arrived would be saying too little.

Gonzalez showed up at Fonner in 2017 and promptly won with 17 of his 37 starters, a 45 percent strike rate. He went 17 for 43 in 2018 (39 percent) and 29 for 97 (29 percent) in 2019. With fewer places to run his stock this spring, Gonzalez has been even more active at Fonner, already running 80 horses, winning with 19 of them. For the first time at Fonner, however, Gonzalez’s starters aren’t producing a flat-bet profit, though his $1.80 return on investment this meet isn’t bad, and for his Fonner career, Gonzalez’s ROI still stands at a very healthy $2.11.

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With horses in five of the eight races on Wednesday at Fonner, Gonzalez, as usual, has to be accounted for one way or another.

His entrant in race 1, a Nebraska-bred allowance, is El Prieto, who should go to post at double-digit win odds as he makes his first start since June (showing just one quiet half-mile drill) and first for Gonzalez. Easily the most likely winner here is Ye Be Judged, who was a solid second in his career debut, a race that produced four next-out winners, including Ye Be Judged, who was comfortably best in a four-furlong maiden race March 6. The way Ye Be Judged went past the wire going a half-mile around one turn there suggested six furlongs around two turns Wednesday should be fine.

In race 3, Gonzalez has the likely favorite in Contraband, who drops in class from competitive first-level allowance tries into a $5,000 conditioned claimer he should win. Bitsy’s Carlos, a Gonzalez entrant in race 4, is an even sharper dropper, going from allowance races down to a $2,500 claimer, and while the class move is negative and Bitsy’s Carlos will be odds-on chalk, he’s hard to oppose with much confidence.

Race 6, an entry-level allowance, brings forth two Gonzalez-trained starters, Djinn of Djibouti and Eastside Boy, who each was claimed out of his most recent start for $5,000. Gonzalez during his Fonner career has only raised four horses up to allowance races immediately following a claim, and two of them have won.

In the nightcap, a $3,500 claimer, Gonzalez has Magnanimus Man, who will be among the favorites, and Trapper Peak, who’s 10-1 on the morning line. Trapper Peak ran flat in allowance-race competition making his Fonner debut late last month, and he can do much better Wednesday for an outfit that’s very familiar with the humble Fonner winner’s circle.