After spending decades working as an assistant trainer for conditioners Freddie Johnson and Ronney Brown, Ruben Reyes is now finding some success on his own as an owner, trainer and breeder.

His gritty, five-year-old homebred gelding El Pacho has been the highlight of his small stable.

A son of Saratoga Syndicate out of the Kokand mare I’vegotadate, whom Reyes still owns, El Pacho forged a genuine 13-1 upset in a one-turn allowance for state-bred older males in his most recent start Feb. 8 with Orlando Bocachica aboard. The win snapped a seven-race skid that followed his maiden score.

El Pacho broke alertly to gain a slight advantage from along the fence leaving the chute, rebuffed a pair of early challengers, and then held safe Show Time Allen for a half-length score while stopping the timer in 53.90 for the 4 1/2 furlongs on a good track.

“He’s quick and he’s a fighter,” Reyes, 59, said of his homebred, who now owns two wins and over $50,000 banked from 12 career tries. “He’s tough. He doesn’t like to give up the lead. The other night three or four horses tried him, and he still held on. He’s always shown a lot of fight.”

El Pacho’s win was Reyes’ first of the season, and the gelding has accounted for two of Reyes’ three training wins to date.

Unraced at age two, El Pacho finished a nondescript sixth in his career debut on February 17, 2023 in a one-turn maiden special weight dash. He finished a solid second in his next outing three weeks later.

Idle through the remainder of the spring, El Pacho returned in August to finish fifth in another maiden special weight event and then garnered his diploma on September 8 of that year when he outlasted the Ronney Brown-trained Karma Bus for a length score in 53.04.

That win was Reyes’ first as trainer of record since 2007, and this most recent triumph followed a winless, 0-for-23 2024 campaign.

“It was definitely exciting,” Reyes said of the maiden score. “He made the lead and he just outlasted that horse that Ronney had in there. It was definitely a special moment. I owned him, trained him and bred him. It’s tough to win those maiden special weight races up here. It’s even tougher to win an allowance race.”

El Pacho made two more starts at age three, finishing third twice in consecutive allowance races on October 28 and again on November 29. He then made a somewhat belated return to the races last summer, finishing fifth in three consecutive allowance races on June 21, July 20 and August 3. El Pacho then concluded a brief, unsuccessful campaign by running fourth in another allowance in late September then sixth in his final start on November 6.

But El Pacho benefited from his time away from the track at Reyes’ farm in Kearneysville and returned fresh and fit for his seasonal debut last weekend against allowance foes. Dismissed at 13-1 with Orlando Bocachica aboard, El Pacho displayed his usual early speed and then offered a considered amount of tenacity as well to repel three challengers and then hold sway late for a neck score.

“He had some sickness issues last year and missed some time,” Reyes said. “I was glad to get him back to the farm and give him some time off. He came back really good. I thought he trained well when he came back. I knew he had the speed and he’s tough. He’s a fighter.”