by Victoria Howard

After 58 years of fun, entertainment and live harness racing, Pompano Park sadly closed its doors. Known as the Taj Mahal, and The Winter Capital of Harness Racing, Pompano put the sport on the map with the help of many superstar trainer/drivers, such as Delvin Miller, Billy Haughton, Archie McNeil, Bill Popfinger, Dick Macomber, Stanley Dancer, and many more.

Many track and world records were set at Pompano Park by the four-legged stars, Central Park West, Red Bow Tie, Artsplace, Peace Corps and Mack Lobell, among others.

At one time, Pompano played host to a stakes series for Florida-sired and bred horses and as far back as I can remember several stables dominated every year. The three that stand out in my mind were Laurie Poulin (the Prairie horses), Jay Sears, and Tom and Marianne Audley (Gold Star Farm).

Every year, one or more of their horses would take home the title and purse. Back then, the final leg could go for as much as $100,000 or more; remember this was 40 years ago.

The mother and daughter team of Marianne and Maggie Audley, who were a permanent fixture at Pompano Park for decades, are my subjects this week.

Although patriarch Tom Audley has passed away, his legacy and the name “Gold Star Farm” continues with his wife and daughter; truly two of the nicest people I’ve met in the business.

Maggie Audley was born in Waukesha, WI.

“Growing up, my father always preached, ‘knowledge is power, and if you ever thought you were the smartest person in the room, you failed,’” Maggie said. “Dad was always reading training books, equine exercise science publications, and talking to other horsemen, for if something was new or different he wanted to learn about it. My father was an avid believer in interval training. His good friend, Tom Ivers, and dad would spend hours talking about exercise and training skills.

“I was blessed to grow up surrounded by many great men and talented trainers like Tom Simmons and Erv Miller while we were stabled in Illinois; Jim Perry and Tom Brinkerhoff when we wintered at Hawkinsville, and Dr. Melvyn Aylor, Bobby Williams, Jr., and Verlin Yoder, during the 25 years we were at the Gil Crest Training Center.”

Stabled at Pompano, Maggie said she was able to watch and learn from some of the best like Wally Hennessey, Jay Sears, Walter Ross, Sr. and Jr., Nick Coblentz, John Hallett, Jeff Schaefer, and Dr. Paul Caputo, trainers, farriers, and veterinarians who were always gracious to answer the questions she asked.

“As a trainer, my dad had 781 pari-mutuel starts and earned a little over $1.1 million,” Maggie said. “He did a little driving, but stuck mainly to training. In 2014, he was inducted into the Florida USHWA Hall of Fame; something he was very proud of.

“When my father died in 2015, I took over the stable continuing dad’s legacy and the Gold Star name for that was important to mom and I.”

According to Maggie, when Pompano closed in 2022 it was like another death in the family.

“It was life changing, as it was for many horsemen, but as time passes, it hurts a little less,” she said. “At Pompano Park I loved, laughed and made lifelong friends from all corners of the globe. It will be forever a place that helped shape me into the person I am today.”

Gold Star Rosie sticks out as one of Maggie’s best horses.

“When Pompano offered a bonus to trainers whose horse won all of the stakes finals, she went undefeated,” Maggie said. “Gold Star Rockette was the richest and fastest horse. Gold Star Spike was a ridgling, but didn’t know it, and Gold Star Mysti was a mess at 2, but finally got it together and in her 4- year-old season she took a track record, which holds today.

“We owned and stood the 2016 Florida USHWA Hall of Fame stallion Rock On, who threw many good offspring, and we also stood the stallion, Mysticism.”

Today, Maggie is in Indiana where she is racing program director and charter at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

“I still co-own several broodmares with my mother that stable at the James and Cheyenne Yoder farm in Upland, IN,” she said. “Unfortunately, the Indiana Racing Commission rules state that a racing official cannot own horses who race in Indiana, so when I took the job, I had to sell the two horses I co-owned, but I kept Gold Star Aurora, who was my first win as a trainer and my first pari-mutuel win.”

Marianne Audley grew up in Philadelphia, PA, and was a novice to the sport of harness racing when she met her late husband Tom.

“He would tell me stories about his grandfather and great uncle who were veterinarians and farmers,” Marianne said. “They conditioned racehorses for the trainers at the then Milwaukee Mile and Elkhorn, so Tom was hooked at an early age.

“At the time Tom worked at the sheriff’s department. When he met Rick Schroeder in Waukesha, WI, my husband was thrilled to jog horses in his off time. We started racing in Wisconsin at the county fairs with the Schroeders, and the name Gold Star Farm came to be from Tom’s job [because he wore a gold star].”

Not long thereafter, Marianne and Tom purchased a farm in Eagle, WI, where they put a half-mile track around the barn and bought a few cheap babies to learn with.

“I primarily worked in the barn and doing the books,” Marianne said. “Tom would let me jog the well-behaved ones, but with a young daughter and my five brothers constantly stopping in to volunteer, I rarely got out of the barn. The thing I always loved the most and still do is studying the catalogs and being involved in the breeding end.”

Marianne still owns some standardbreds.

“I have Gold Star Igotdis with trainer Stacey Mclenaghan and Corey Braden, and Goldstar Buniholly with Dave Ingraham and Kelly Case.

“I also have two 2-year-olds in training — one is with Nick Coblentz, and one with James Yoder. I get to spend time in South Florida, as well as Indiana, to visit my daughter and the Yoders, who house our broodmares and babies.”

Before Tom passed away, Marianne said they had 60 acres and 40 head of horses, ranging from newborns to retirees and today, they own 10 acres, that house, seven retirees and one broodmare.

Marianne said she is continually amazed at her daughter, Maggie.

“She started training her first horse at six years old when my husband rigged a 2×4 to the stirrups of the jog cart so her little feet could reach, and sent her out with our best mare, Low Cholesterol,” Marianne said. “Maggie has accomplished so many amazing things in her life. When Tom passed away, Maggie wanted to keep the Gold Star name going, so she travelled to Minnesota, New York, Indiana and Florida with our horses to race.

“Seeing the bleak future for Pompano Park, Maggie went to Indiana with a few horses and worked for our good friends Cheyenne and James Yoder.

“Maggie was involved in a scary accident there with one of our 2-year-olds, and when I saw my daughter in braces and casts, I gave her the option to shut everything down. She laughed at me and said there was a zero chance of that happening. After six months of bed rest, physical therapy, and two knee surgeries, she was back in the bike training for the Florida stakes season. Maggie also started a new job and is now the charter at Hoosier Park. I know my husband Tom is very proud of his daughter, as I am.”