Goatley Brothers inducted in KHHA Hall of Fame
9/29/08 KyHarnessRacing.com - Andrea Husband and Scott Husband
9/29/08 KyHarnessRacing.com - Andrea Husband and Scott Husband
On Tuesday, September 23, 2008, Chester and David Goatley, also known as the
Goatley Brothers, were inducted into the KHHA Hall of Fame.
Chester and David Goatley began their harness racing career as the “Goatley
Brothers” on the farm their father purchased in Springfield, KY. The farm was
nothing but wilderness when their father (and Chester, David, and their other
brother Hunter) began cleaning it up, with just an ax and a saw.
David and Chester lost their brother, Hunter, during the Invasion of Normandy on
July 11, 1943. David served in the war as well. According to David, the draft board
tried to get Chester too. So they sent him to Louisville to be examined.
- As the story goes, one doc looked in one end and the other doc looked in the
other end. They thought they could see one another, so they didn’t think he was
fit for duty.
Their father began to practice as a lay veterinarian in the late 1930’s. He learned
how to practice veterinary medicine by reading books. Their father became so well
known for doing lay veterinary work in Washington and Nelson counties that a
licensed vet tried to stop him. They tried to have a trial to stop him from
practicing without a license. However, they couldn’t get enough men to serve on
the jury, because they couldn’t find enough people that hadn’t been his client.
They never could have that trial, so he kept on working as a lay vet.
As their father aged, he didn’t want to go out alone at night so he had Chester
and David go with him on veterinary calls. The Goatley Brothers learned the trade
from their father, and eventually took over the practice.
Chester and David’s harness racing career began when they heard there was a
horse (Leona Lass) for sale up in Perryville. She’d been in one of the movies
(“Oklahoma”) and the owner quit racing and wanted to sell her. So David and
Chester went to Perryville and bought her to show her in bull rings at county
fairs.
They were looking for a horse to breed to Leona Lass when they heard about Top
Pro. The owner, who lived in Ohio, stopped racing him when he was two because
he broke down in the back legs. Top Pro was turned out to pasture for a couple
of years, and at the age of 4 was put up for auction at Tattersalls in Lexington.
Thats where Chester and David bought him to breed to Leona Lass along with a
couple of other brood mares they owned. They had no intention of ever racing
Top Pro.
They took Top Pro home and turned him out for a year and then began to show
him as a Road Horse at county fairs. Southern Rogers knew of Top Pro from his
racing days and approached Chester and David when he heard they owned him
and were showing him in fairs. Top Pro (now at the age of 6) was so spry, they
decided to see if he could race again, so they hitched him up to a cart and drove
him up and down ridge on top of the farm. Rogers said Top Pro was ready to race
and to bring him up to Lexington on Tuesday and he’d qualify him for racing. Top
Pro qualified in 2:10. Rogers said, “You come and we’ll race him. Bet the farm,
because he’ll win.” Top Pro tied his two year old record that night in 2:03.
Chester and David won $40 and thought they were the richest men on earth.
That's when the racing bug bit them.
They realized they needed a place to train Top Pro, so they leveled out the flat
ridge on top of the farm. The homemade track had one straightaway with a loop
at each end. That track configuration (termed a "figure-eight track") proved to be
a very effective method for training their horses – and was demonstrated in their
continued success throughout the years.
After they began racing, they started buying and selling weanlings. Eventually,
they began breeding most of their own horses and decided to name all of their
horses with a “GB” at the end, so everyone would know they were from Goatley
Brothers’ stock.
It wasn’t uncommon to be sitting in the grandstand and overhear someone say,
“Whenever I see those ‘GB’ horses – I know I should bet on them!”
When Chester and David began driving their horses in races together, some
people were concerned the Goatley Brothers would scheme against their fellow
drivers. One evening before a race at Louisville Downs, the judge called Chester in
and gave him a talking to. The other drivers were quite amused that he got called
in (to the racing officials) before the race ever started.
That night, David and Chester were in the same race and were coming around the
last turn when Chester yelled at David: “David, that guy is going to pass us, bring
your horse in to block him out!” Just about everyone in the grandstands heard
Chester that night.
Subtlety was not one of Chester’s strong suits. However, if questioned, Chester
would always fess up to breaking the rules – he just wasn’t always too keen on
following them. However, more often than not, David and Chester would regularly
coming off the track yelling at each other for one cutting the other off, or one
parking the other out around a turn.
They never owned the newest or trendiest equipment. Often, many of their
contraptions were homemade. One horse in particular, Noble GB, resembled a bit
of a junkyard dog as he would go around the track. He had a chain under his belly
to keep him from kicking over the cart, a homemade Murphy blind crafted from
bits and pieces of old harness, cotton stuffed in his ears and a hood on his head,
tongue tied down with a leg of pantyhose, and a rusty coffee can under his chin.
His appearance brought snickers from the grandstands during the post parade,
but cheers when he would get his photo taken in the winner’s circle.
Some of their horses weren’t the prettiest either. Florlis Sharon GB had a crooked
Roman nose. It amazed fellow trainers that David and Chester would race her
because they didn’t see how she was even able to breathe. However, her
consistent success at the track proved them wrong and demonstrated that you
don’t have to be perfect to win.
However, despite the homemade tack and occasional funny looking nose, the
Goatley Brothers had a true appreciation for the beauty of the sport. Their roots
in showing Road Horses at county fairs were evident as you watched their horses
go around the track.
When asked why they preferred trotters over pacers, their answer was simple:
“Because trotters are prettier.”
As Chester and David got older, they began to train and race fewer and fewer
horses. The last horse they raced was Chipper Hippy GB. One day they went up
to the Red Mile to race Chipper Hippy GB and Jack Conway asked them if they
would be interested in selling him. He offered $25,000 and David said, “No, I’ll take
$35,000.” Conway said “I’ll see you after the race.” Chipper Hippy GB won the
race, and afterwards, Jack Conway said he still wanted to buy him, but asked if he
could take the harness too.
David replied, “For $35,000 you can take him as he stands.” And that brought the
end of a racing era.
Chester and David Goatley were passionate about harness racing. Their childlike
excitement, enthusiasm, and love for the sport oozed out of them. It was
reflected in the success they had throughout the years, the friendships they
developed, and the legacy they left on the sport. They epitomized camaraderie
and competition; success through simplicity; and always telling the truth.
When asked if life should be more fun or should work be more fun, they replied –
“Life should be more fun. Don’t overwork yourself. Having fun is the main thing
in life.” Lucky for them, they had the most fun in their work - if only we were all
so lucky.
