Goetz gets off pony in pursuit of fifth win as trainer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Monnie Goetz will be on the ground, not astride her popular pony Harley, prior to the first race Friday at Churchill. Goetz will saddle Cedar Creek for the $10,000 starter allowance while taking a short break from her self-owned pony service, which accompanies most Churchill runners to the starting gate.

“I’ve trained a horse or two my whole life since I was a little girl in Nebraska,” said Goetz, whose 88-year-old father, retired trainer Tom Hawkins, is a co-owner in Cedar Creek. Hawkins moved several years ago to the Mt. Washington, Ky., farm owned by Monnie and her husband, Steve Goetz. “It’s fun to have one on your own to kind of break up the routine. It picks your head up.”

Goetz, 58, has four wins as a trainer, the latest coming in August with Cedar Creek on the Ellis Park turf.

“I really think he’s better on dirt,” she said. “This is a tough race, but I feel like he’s going to run big.”

After the race, Goetz will be back at her regular job, which typically requires her to awaken at 3:30 a.m. and lasts past sundown. She has become a legend among horsemen – while Harley, a 7-year-old mixed breed who stands 17-2 hands and weighs 2,000 pounds, is not far behind.

“He’s something else,” said Goetz with a laugh.

‘FallStars’ around corner

Nominations have been released for the huge three-day FallStars Weekend (Oct. 5-7) which will kick off the Keeneland fall meet, and fans can expect some familiar names to resurface.

Four winners of FallStars stakes last year are expected to return in the same races: Whitmore (Phoenix), Suedois (Shadwell Turf Mile), Miss Sunset (Thoroughbred Club of America), and Bucchero (Woodford).

Ten stakes worth nearly $4 million will be run opening weekend, with nine of them being Win and You’re In events toward the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill. NBC will televise the Oct. 6-7 races on 90-minute shows.

In all, 18 stakes will be run at the 17-day meet, which runs through Oct. 27.

Possibly off turf Friday

Churchill purposely cards fewer turf races than normal at its September meet, mainly to conserve the turf course ahead of the fall meet (and, this year, ahead of the Breeders’ Cup). This week, following heavy rain for several days, that foresight should prove wise since a soggy course surely will preclude the two turf races scheduled for Thursday from being run over grass, and maybe even the one turf race scheduled for Friday.

Race 9 on Friday – a $58,000 first-level allowance that drew an oversubscribed field – is the lone scheduled turf event, and it will be run at 1 1/16 miles on either surface. It’s the second allowance on a 10-race card that gets under way at 12:45 p.m. Eastern. The other is race 3, a $62,000 third-level sprint that drew six fillies and mares.