Trainer Henry Johnson Captures Career Win 1000

Henry B. Johnson saddled the 1,000th winner of his career when City Ghost won the seventh race at Delta Downs Friday. The 82-year-old has been training Thoroughbreds since 1983.

“It's nice to get it out of the way, because it was a long time getting it done,” said Johnson.

Breeder and owner Russell Welch and his wife, Janis, were at Delta Downs for the win by their filly by Shaman Ghost. Welch has trusted Johnson with his Texas and Louisiana-breds for the past seven years.

“He was sort of humbled by it all,” Welch said of the post-race presentation. “We are both rodeo cowboys and H.B. does an outstanding job breaking babies. He did tell me that evening that reaching the milestone would never have been possible without the support of his owners.”

Johnson concurred with Welch, citing Dennis Milligan, Jerry Myers, Greg Hoffman, Jerry Chiles, David and Susan Bunn, as well as Paul and Marianne Phillips as a few of his longtime  owners.

“I have been fortunate to have great owners who understand the importance of patience,” acknowledged Johnson.

Prior to his training career, Johnson was a rodeo competitor specializing in-bull and steer riding. In a training career that spans four decades, Johnson has saddled 6,486 horses with earnings over $15 million. Top earners included Albert's First ($477,318); Wa Bert ($356,488); Political Whit ($347,190); Icy Gentleman ($320,795) and Jimi's a Star ($314,060).

Johnson credits his wife, Jinnie, who is a major part of his operation, assistant trainer Jose Gomez and Oscar Nunez, who he hails as the “backbone” of the stable's grooms.

Retirement is not on the immediate radar for Johnson, who will turn 83 in January.

“I like doing what I do and can't think of anything else I would enjoy as much as this,” Johnson said.

The post Trainer Henry Johnson Captures Career Win 1000 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Goncalves Reaches 2,000 Wins In North America With Sam Houston Victory

Leandro Goncalves rode Russell Welch's Gurkha Gold to an upset victory in Saturday's fifth race at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas to give the Brazil native his 2,000th career victory in North America.

Trained by Karl Broberg, Gurkha Gold won the maiden special weight race for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on turf by 1 1/2 lengths and paid $20.80 to her backers.

Goncalves was on horses herding livestock by the age of 7 and two years later was riding in Quarter horse races. He attended Brazil's jockey school at age 16 and became the school's top apprentice. Goncalves moved to England briefly in 2004 but came to the U.S. the following year, struggled to break through, but won his first American race in 2007.

He's won as many as 298 races in a single season in 2011 and his mounts earned over $7.2 million the following year.

In 2017, Goncalves proudly became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

 

The post Goncalves Reaches 2,000 Wins In North America With Sam Houston Victory appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights