Assael Espinoza and Jonathan Wong win Golden Gate titles

Jockey Assael Espinoza, trainer Jonathan Wong, and owners Johnny Taboada and Larry and Marianne Williams were leaders in their respective divisions at the recently concluded 2023 winter/spring meet at Golden Gate Fields, which ended Sunday.

Jockey Assael Espinoza won the most races out of any rider with 93 trips to the winners' circle from 419 steers, equating to a strong 22 percent win rate. His mounts finished in the money 56 percent of the time. From opening day December 26 to the conclusion of the meet last Sunday, Espinoza’s mounts compiled $2,013,156 in earnings.

“I’m very thankful for all the owners and trainers who have given me an opportunity to ride their horses,” said Espinoza. “Ever since I got to Golden Gate, people have been really good to me. There are a lot of great people supporting me.

I also really appreciate all the backside workers getting all the horses ready,” continued Espinoza. “They’re very important behind the scenes in this sport. They need to be recognized and acknowledged. My agent did a great job finding me great rides. We both worked hard, and it worked out great.”

The nephew of Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza, 23-year-old Assael began his riding career in 2018 at Santa Anita Park and shipped his tack to Northern California in early 2021. The Arcadia, California native picks up his second Golden Gate riding title; he finished atop the jockey standings at the 2022 summer meet.

Notable wins for Espinoza at the winter/spring meet came aboard Rose Maddox in the Moscow Burning Stakes and Carole Lombard in the Campanile Stakes. Espinoza is represented by agent Tom “Bomber” Doutrich. Evin Roman finished second in the jockey standings with 80 victories while Armando Ayuso rounded out the top three spots with 72 wins.  

Trainer Jonathan Wong successfully defended his 2022 winter/spring meet training title with the most wins out of any trainer at the 2023 meeting, winning 56 races from 231 starters. Wong posted a 19 percent win clip and earned total purse prizes of $1,063,272. The most notable win for Team Wong came on closing day in the inaugural Dream of Summer Stakes with 6-year-old California-bred mare Sadie Bluegrass. Other top campaigners in Kentucky-based Wong’s California string are Clockstrikestwelve, Kennebec, and Love’em N Leave’em.

Heading into closing week, Isidro Tamayo was tied for the lead with Wong. He ended up finishing second in the standings with 53 first-place finishes. Jack Steiner, who had the highest win percentage (29 percent) from trainers with over 50 starters, tied for third in the trainer standings with Steve Sherman. Steiner and Sherman won 32 races each.

In the owner category, Johnny Taboada won 14 races before changing his stable name to Taboada Racing Stables in the middle of the meet. Between both stable names, Taboada won 24 races. Larry and Marianne Williams had a strong meeting with 15 wins from 75 starters as did Gray Farms, who won at a 26 percent clip from their 46 starters and finished third in the owner standings.