Issue link: http://nytbreeders.epubxp.com/i/471532
March 2015 | nytbreeders.org | New York Breeder 43 MIKE KANE Gander winning the 2003 Empire Classic to Albert the Great in the 2000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I), in which the winner ran the fastest 1 1 ⁄4 miles (1:59.24) ever by a 3-year-old in New York; third, beaten three-quarters of a length, behind Lemon Drop Kid and Behrens in the 2000 Woodward; third behind Lido Palace and Albert the Great in the 2001 Whitney Handicap (gr. I); third in the 2001 Donn Handicap (gr. I) behind Captain Steve and Albert the Great; and third in the grade II Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap in 2000. He also placed in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes (gr. III), Stuyvesant Handicap (gr. III), Paterson Stakes, Sam F. Davis Stakes, Empire Classic and Kings Point handicaps, and the Damon Runyon Stakes. He had the privilege of being ridden by a Who's Who of jockeys, including John Velazquez, Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens, Jose Santos, Richard Migliore, Robbie Davis, Victor Espinoza, and Shaun Bridgmohan, just to name a few. It is safe to say Mike and Ted Gatsas lucked out when they found this horse at their very frst sale. "When my brother and I started the stable, we approached a trainer here in New England named Charlie Assimakopou - los, who trained only his own horses, and at frst he said no to us. He was happy doing what he was doing. After we kept prodding him, he gave it some more thought and said, 'OK, let's go buy a few,' Mike Gatsas said. "He went to the OBS March 2-year-old sale and called us and said, 'Listen, I got this gray horse that I just love. I've been watching him and he's very, very good.' He just loved how fuid his stride was and how little pressure he put on his legs as other larger ones like him do. Charlie had a great eye for a horse, so we bought him for $50,000 over the phone, along with another horse named Shadow Caster, who would go on to win the Forego Handicap (gr. II), paying $103." Gander was sent to Assimakopoulos at Delaware Park, which had just gotten slots, but the Gatsases' excitement over their new purchase soon turned to despair when Gan - der got pneumonia. Whether he'd pull through was touch and go for awhile. "He was very close to death and Charlie just about lived with the horse in the stall to try to keep him alive," Mike Gatsas said. "He was that type of trainer and that type of person." Gander recovered and made his debut that August at Saratoga, fnishing a distant fourth, but broke his maiden second time out at odds of 8-1. That was followed by a series of New York-bred stakes and allowance races, with Gander managing only one allowance victory and a number of placings over the next year. He captured his frst stakes in September 1999, winning the Albany Handicap and then was ambitiously placed in the Woodward, fnishing a respectable ffth at odds of 38-1. He followed that up with a second in the Paterson and a victory in the Empire Classic. His frst six races in 2000 resulted in only two allowance scores, and the Gatsas brothers decided to move him perma - nently to Belmont Park. "We had started to expand our stable and Charlie was getting a little older and he approached Teddy and me and said we were growing too big and it was too much traveling for him," Gatsas recalled. "He said it would be in our best interests to go get a New York trainer, so we started looking around. The frst time we ran Gander in the Breeders' Cup, Charlie was our guest, and to this day there's a bond between our two families that'll never be forgotten. There's always a tear when we see each other. His son John has taken over the family business, and he's a terrifc trainer, too. "Ted was starting to go into politics, and my son Matt and I had 15 horses and we went to interview some trainers and it was hard to pick. John Terranova only had three or four horses at the time, and we thought that with him being young and us being young in the business, he would be the person to give our horses to. So, overnight, he had 15 more horses." The racetrack was nothing new to Mike and his family. His two kids, Matt and Amanda, had been going to Rockingham with him since they were 7 or 8 and would spend the afternoon watching the races and sitting on a bench eat - ing fried chicken. Mike and Ted eventually sold their company and went into the horse busi - ness. Whenever Gander ran in a big race in New York, the Gatsases would get in their car, pick up Assimakopoulos at his home in Worces - ter, Mass., and drive to the track. After the race they would have dinner and then drop Assima - Matt Gatsas