Trainer Jonathan Wong chose an elegant way to honor the recent death of a former boss, trainer John F. Martin, over the weekend at the Big Fresno Fair. All of Wong’s runners wore Martin’s familiar blue silks with interlocking JFM letters. Wong’s stable, which has risen to the top of Northern California racing in recent years, had five winners on Saturday and Sunday. Martin, best known as Mickey, died Friday after a lengthy illness at the age of 63. “Mickey was the first person to give me a break,” Wong said Monday. “I worked for him for about 10 years. He was my biggest mentor. He was a very, very good friend of mine. He was like a father figure for me. He meant a lot to me in his life. “We always loved the Fresno meet. To be able to use his silks over there, we were able to win a couple of races in honor of him and in memory of him and that was special.” Martin won his first race in 1984 and initially raced Quarter Horses before switching to Thoroughbreds. Martin won 2,315 races, including 1,960 races with Thoroughbreds. Martin had his final runner in January 2021. Reid France, a former assistant, took over Martin’s stable that year and since has ranked among Northern California’s leading trainers. In this century, Martin won such stakes as the California Sprint Championship with Exceeding at Bay Meadows in 2005, the Claiming Crown Jewel with Me My Mine at Canterbury Park in 2006, the Claiming Crown Slipper with Mended at Gulfstream Park in 2017, and the Alcatraz Stakes with Visitant at Golden Gate Fields in 2019. Mended was claimed for $12,500 at Golden Gate Fields in January 2017 and won her next 10 starts – seven races at Golden Gate Fields, and one at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, at Del Mar, and the Claiming Crown Slipper. Mended was second in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita in 2018, her final year on the track. She earned $340,074 for owners Troy and Maritza Onorato after being claimed. “Mended put us on a phenomenal ride,” Troy Onorato told Golden Gate publicity over the weekend. “People would always say how well we campaigned Mended and other horses. I told them, ‘We’re just following the John Martin playbook.’ ” Wong said he kept in touch with Martin until the summer. Wong and Martin used to attend Bay Area baseball games, once watching the San Francisco Giants in an afternoon and the Oakland A’s that evening. “Once you got to know Mickey, he would do anything for his people,” Wong said. “I hope he is remembered for that.” Services are pending.