By T. D. Thornton
Jockey Luis Antonio Gonzalez was suspended 15 days by the Mahoning Valley Race Course stewards Monday for a “failure to give best effort” infraction while riding an Ohio-bred 2-year-old shipper from Santa Anita Park who had broken her maiden in her most recent race in California by six lengths.
Gonzalez was aboard the 7-5 favorite Rapida (Country House) in the eighth race at Mahoning on Dec. 26, a state-bred N2L allowance sprint. After stalking the pace from the inside to the quarter pole, Rapida surged to the lead under urging and began opening up. She led by two inside the eighth pole, then Gonzalez geared her down approaching the final sixteenth despite the onrushing presence of the 2.20-1 second favorite Lo Bug (Mor Spirit), who nailed Rapida at the wire by a head.
In the Dec. 30 ruling, the Mahoning stewards wrote that Gonzalez “failed to use his utmost exertion to obtain a winning performance possibly costing him a better placing which may have affected mutuel payout.”
The stewards' ruling stipulated that if Gonzalez chooses not to appeal his suspension, it will be reduced to seven days, running Jan. 6-12. It was unclear at deadline for this story if Gonzalez planned to appeal.
Gonzalez, who has been a licensed jockey since 1986 with 3,632 lifetime wins, is currently 16th in both victories and earnings at the Mahoning meet. His record in 2024 is 64-67-56 from 317 mounts.
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