Columnist Ralph Siraco: Rider's shocking death brings tears to race fans

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday through Friday. Write to him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 800 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89107.

The day started out like any typical Southern California day, another typical opening for the Los Angeles County Fair race meet at Pomona.

It was Thursday, and many racetrackers, who had hustled their way from Del Mar less than 24 hours before, were ready, if a little tired, for the 18-day merry-go-round ride known as Fairplex Park -- the biggest county-fair race meet in America.

Nestled at the foot of the San Gabriel mountain range and just 25 or so miles from Southern California's more famous track at the base of the same mountain range -- Santa Anita -- the fair meet mixed the old county-fair atmosphere with the big league purses of the region.

Many of the top Southern California riders take the three-week meet off in an effort to secure Breeders' Cup mounts in out-of-state stakes races before the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita begins. Even the "King of Pomona," rider David Flores, was to cut back on his riding assignments after stepping up with riding titles at Santa Anita and the recent Del Mar meeting this year.

But the popular 5/8-mile oval known as the "bullring" gave the other riders on the circuit a chance to make major money during the session.

One of those "other" jockeys was a young, eager and talented gentleman by the name of J.C. Gonzalez. Last year, as an apprentice (a jockey allowed to ride as much as seven pounds lighter than the regular assigned weight) J.C. led all Fairplex Park riders with 28 victories as he captured the title. The young native of Yuhaulica, Jalisco, Mexico, was making a name for himself and remained on the circuit at the major tracks, while riding fewer mounts and visiting the winners circle less frequently.

Nevertheless, the Arcadia, California, resident continued to work hard while keeping a positive disposition. The rider's enthusiasm and ever-present smile were contagious.

And so it was with great anticipation that the 23-year-old journeyman came back to Fairplex Park looking to defend his title at the Pomona bullring.

Equipped with his hard-work ethic, high hopes for another run at the championship wrapped by that broad smile, the polished and talented J. C. was ready.

So was fate.

The opening-day card was rolling along. Four races in the record book, two cotton candies, a French dip sandwich, a couple of drafts and the challenge of handicapping the fifth race on the first day of a dozen equine puzzles.

J.C. was riding a horse that looked as if it could and should take the lead, always an important factor at the bullring, in the three-turn route race. He did. Gonzalez was cruising along aboard Wolfhunt in the 1 1/16th-mile race for $5,000 claimers.

And then it happened.

Going into the final turn for home, Wolfhunt fell. Without any warning and too suddenly to react, J.C. hit the ground hard as his mount broke both front legs. Over him went jockey Danny Sorenson aboard Accomodator while the trailing riders and horses scattered to avoid the fallen pair.

Off the turn and down the short homestretch, a spread-out abbreviated field finished the race while paramedics rushed to the aid of the downed riders. A dazed Sorenson managed to recover under his own power, but that would not be the case for Gonzalez.

Many spills look much more serious than they actually are. Many riders look as if they were trampled to death only to brush it off and walk away. Many more suffer broken bones and are sidelined to recuperate and ride again. Some do not.

The horses were gone from the track, the race had been made official, and the next race's competition was still sitting in the paddock. It became clear the accident that had taken place on the far turn was much more serious than anticipated. As the minutes passed, and the post time for the sixth race was delayed, it became apparent that the news would not be good.

A hushed, concerned crowd waited as rumors began to sprout throughout the grandstand. Anxiety and a quiet fear started to show on the faces of those who have been around the track long enough to know. Even patrons in the noisy diverse casino racebooks here in Nevada knew there was something wrong.

Then it came. Track announcer Trevor Denman relayed a short statement. "In respect for the riders, the rest of today's racing program has been cancelled."

The news floated from the track's first aid room on the faces of those who had been on the scene as their tears confirmed the worst fears.

At 2:31 p.m. on September 9, an indelible memory marked the 1999 Fairplex Park racing season.

Dr. Neal Archer pronounced jockey J.C. Gonzalez dead as a result of massive head trauma sustained in the fall. Gonzalez was gone by the time he reached the first aid station.

Patrol Judge Ruben Hernandez, positioned in a stand on the final turn, who was the first to reach Gonzalez, said, "You knew it was too late, it looked like he was gone instantly."

That's what was so hard to fathom. The suddenness of it all. The sober reality of the risks and dangers that jockeys take every day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Yet most riders will tell you that they would rather be killed than paralyzed -- certainly a mind set of the fearless who ride the thin line of life and death for the love of competition in quest of victory.

Gonzalez's death was the first by a jockey at Fairplex Park in more than 60 years of competition at the tight oval and the first such fatality in California since 1975. It is amazing that, according to the Jockeys' Guild, there have been an average of just under three rider deaths per year in the sport over the past 50 years.

But as safe as that statistic shows this sport is, with conservatively 75,000 races in this country each year, the realities are still hard to accept.

Every veteran racing fan can relate to and recall another such experience before Thursday's reminder. For me, it was the sudden death of jockey Alvaro Pineda in a fatal starting-gate accident at Santa Anita in 1975 that led to a feeling of a new-found admiration for all jockeys.

On Friday at Fairplex Park, Gonzalez was scheduled to ride a horse named Ayer Hoy Manana which means, "yesterday, today, tomorrow." Wolfhunt was euthanized, J.C. is gone and tomorrow has no guarantees.

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