Trainer GONZALO ANDERSON, Alberta’s leading trainer of 2025, is off to a fast start in 2026 and two more wins at Century Mile in Nisku, Alberta on Saturday gave him 18 for the meeting. He is winning at a 38 percent clip in just his fourth full year as a trainer.
Anderson trains for various owners including Newtown Anner Stud, whose New York-bred filly PLAYFUL won the co-featured Chariot Chaser Stakes on Saturday with Dane Nelson riding. Playful, by Violence, rallied from about five lengths behind early in the six furlong dash to win by a length as the 4-to-5 favourite. It was the second straight win for Playful and fourth in 11 races since she began her career last June at Century Mile. The filly also won the Freedom of the City Stakes last October.
Born and raised in Venezuela, Anderson, 37, credits his father for his passion for horses, “My Dad was a doctor, but his passion was racehorses. I got the passion for horses from him. He trained some horses in Venezuela, where I grew up, and he also followed the big races in North America.”
Century Mile’s Western Canada Stakes on Saturday, worth $50,000, was won by Kentucky-bred JAVIER, a son of Practical Joke owned by Don Danard and trained by Carson Frey. Making only his third career start, Javier remained undefeated with a 1 3/4 length win in 1:10.47 under Brian Boodramsingh. Javier won his career debut last September and an optional race in early May. A $16,000 purchase from the Fasig-Tipton July Digital sale, Javier was bred by Dell Ridge Farm.
In Manitoba at Winnipeg’s Assiniboia Downs, trainer JERRY GOURNEAU won eight of 21 races run last week and is now at 18 wins for the meeting. The trainer sent out Henry Witt Jr.’s BERGHEIM to a 16-to-1 upset win in the $51,000 Beau Blade Stakes on June 2. A $10,000 claimer from a win at Sam Houston in February, Bergheim, by Union Jackson, is a four-year-old gelding with seven career wins.
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