Hoosier Park wrap-up: Goncalves, Patrick win meet titles
By Mike Porcaro
Midwest Thoroughbred
By all accounts, the Hoosier Park meet was a great success for horsemen, track management and, mostly, the fans!
The
2011 Thoroughbred meet, which closed on Oct. 23, found jockey
Leandro Goncalves winning his second consecutive riding title.
Goncalves won three races on the final day of the meet, which
included the fifth leg of the $33,000 Don K. Memorial Starter
Handicap Series winning with Tutti Buona Gente.
Finishing the meet with 104 wins, Goncalves bested his 2010 win record by one race. The Brazilian-born jockey earned more than $2.1 million in purses. The country’s fourth leading rider in wins this year, Goncalves earned a record $2,405,286 in 2010 at Hoosier Park. He won titles earlier in 2011 at Indiana Downs and Turfway Park.
Jockey title runner-up was Fernando De La Cruz, who finished second with 81 wins. The all-time leading rider at Hoosier Park, Rodney Prescott, finished third with 50 wins.
Trainer and owner Gary Patrick pulled a “double” by also winning the owner’s title, his second at Hoosier Park. Patrick won the same trophy in 1998. Second place finishers were Mitchell Hunt and Dale Smith’s Hunt and Smith Ventures with 14 wins.
Gary Patrick receiving his honors
Photos by Linscott Photography