by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — She has captured her last three contests at Pompano Park and may very well be in the best form of her life, but oddly enough, Pure Barre really does not care for the man who drives her. There is just something about Mickey McNichol that rubs her the wrong way.

“I never realized how horses know certain people,” said Tom Gonsalves, the 7-year-old mare’s owner/trainer. “They identify them by how they look and their voice. Pure Barre likes me and my wife, but there are people she doesn’t like and doesn’t want to be around. She really doesn’t like Mickey. When she hears him talking before he goes to get into the bike, she is just like, ‘ugh.’ He knows it too and just chalks it up to her being her. That is how she is and it can be pretty funny sometimes.”

Gonsalves, who only trains trotting fillies and mares, purchased the daughter of Classic Photo and the Muscles Yankee mare Dear Abs for $7,000 at the 2009 Lexington Selected Sale.

Skip Smith photo

Pure Barre has had a solid career, winning 22 races and banking $226,645.

She certainly did not set the world on fire as a 2-year-old with $4,100 in purse money from six starts and no wins, but this mare is like a fine wine that improves with age. She earned just shy of $36,000 as a 3-year-old, almost $46,000 as a 4-year-old and $93,405 at age five. Last year she had a problem with a check ligament in her right foreleg that shortened her campaign considerably and she was only able to trot nine miles, winning five and banking $34,280.

This year, however, Pure Barre is healthy and has a renewed sense of vigor. She is 2-2-0-0 in 2015, has added $13,500 to her $226,645 bankroll and nearly tied her lifetime mark of 1:54f in her 3-1/2 length triumph on Jan. 19.

Gonsalves normally sells his stock after their 3-year-old seasons, but has held on to this mare and her 8-year-old stablemate Blushing Hanover because he has enjoyed being around them so much.

The veteran conditioner feels Pure Barre really could have needed the extra time to mature. The alteration in her attitude and a surgical procedure both had a tremendous impact on her racing performance.

“She had a problem with a check ligament last year,” Gonsalves said. “It was a growth of fibrous tissue and it wasn’t sliding like it should, so I took her to Patty Hogan. Patty cut the ligament and I just gave her all the time she needed off. She has been excellent ever since. Just perfect. I’m not sure how long that could have been bothering her, because she’s a tough little horse that would never show anything.

“Also, she used to be kind of a lazy horse and you would have to pound on the shaft to get her to go. Even then, she would just be like, ‘okay, alright, I’m going.’ Now it is like a light bulb went on and she doesn’t need to see horses come to her or be asked.

“Actually I used to have an open bridle on her and closed her up for her last race. She only needs to hear the other horses now and then she takes off. She still pulls herself up a little when she passes them, but it is like she knows what she is supposed to be doing out there now.”

Pure Barre will continue competing at Pompano Park until Gonsalves returns to New Jersey later in the year.

“I like racing at Harrah’s (Philadelphia),” he said. “And I won’t race her here every week. First of all I have Blushing, so one goes in one week and the other one the next. My wife and I just really enjoy them. We are also fortunate this is just a hobby for us so we don’t have to race them all the time, but we do everything with the horses ourselves. It is fun for us and we are having a great time with Pure Barre racing this well.

“Mickey actually couldn’t stop talking about how good she was after her last race. He even followed us back into the spitbox and he never does that. It was great to hear him talking about her like that and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”