Steve Watson struck gold with ‘Allstar’ mare
by Matthew Lomon
Training racehorses is as demanding a vocation as there is, but uncomplicated types like Allstar Goldi make the long days feel a whole lot lighter – just ask Steve Watson.
“She’s just been awesome all the way along – so consistent and never any troubles or anything with her,” Watson said. “It’s been very nice. She’s a fantastic mare.”
Watson, who conditions and co-owns Allstar Goldi with Ken and Nathan Albright’s Allstar Farms, first laid eyes on the trusty trotter some three-and-a-half-years ago at the Albright’s Millbrook, ON facility.
One look at the statuesque yearling was enough to seal the deal.
“Ken had mentioned at the time that he had a trotting filly he liked, and he wanted to keep her because they breed and sell, too,” Watson said. “I went out and looked at her and she was already starting to grow – a very nice-looking horse, bigger horse. We both decided, ‘Hey, let’s give her a shot.’”
Having already found success with another Allstar Farms purchase in Peter Crown — a now 8-year-old trotter who has reeled in over $122,000 and counting — Watson was eager to try it again with Allstar Goldi.
The first order of business was bringing the bay, out of the Lucky Chucky mare Stuck On Deagan, home to his Guelph, ON farm, fitted with a small training track.
Her natural grace and elegance between the rails stood out like nothing he had seen before.
“I have mostly trotters, but of any trotter I’ve had, she has the nicest trot to her,” Watson said. “It’s just so natural and a nice, reaching-out trot. She’s a bigger horse, a fair bit bigger than Peter Crown, but that would be the thing I would say most about her. She just has a beautiful trot.”
With the brainpower to match, Allstar Goldi was an immediate hit for Watson.
The training process, save for a brief, growth spurt-related shutdown, was wrinkle-free.
For Watson, who had been there every step of the way, additional assistance from a pair of Scott’s in drivers Scott Young and Scott Coulter, too, proved paramount to Allstar Goldi’s development.
“I had Scott Young qualify her,” Watson said. “He took her back, showed her the way and she showed some go. After that, I started her out at Flamboro and got Scott Coulter. He’s a great guy to have to start out with a young horse, especially a young trotting horse. He went along with her slowly and as we moved along, she started to pick it up more and more.”
Watson specifically cited the qualifying stage with Young and first few starts at Flamboro with Coulter, despite not reaching the winner’s circle, as key affirmation points in her path to becoming a standout performer.
“I think I knew early on because she was just so smart and did everything you asked of her,” Watson said. “But when she started qualifying — with the drivers showing her the way — and at Flamboro after a couple of qualifiers, she just seemed to hit another level.
“Once she got on the gate and got going — she really likes to get off that gate — I would just say it was more of, not a slow process, but just a couple of starts to get going and then she just caught on and took off.”
After knocking on the door with a runner-up finish and pair of thirds through the 2023 Autumn Series, Allstar Goldi, with Coulter in tow, broke through for her maiden score on Nov. 5 at Flamboro Downs.
Still, it was the memory of outstanding effort for third in the Autumn final that sticks in Watson’s memory to this day.
“She raced awesome,” he said. “I can’t remember if she was stuck inside third but coming down the lane it opened up a bit, and he [Coulter] tried to come down inside and she did, but just a little bit too late. It was a pretty close three-way photo for the three of them.”
If Watson saw it as a harbinger of triumph, so did Coulter.
“After the first or second time he drove her, he said she’s going to be a nice horse,” Watson said. “After that final, it just felt like she was ready to win, and she did her next start.”
Allstar Goldi has since maintained a lasting rapport with Coulter – a winner of 6,052 races across his illustrious driving career.
In fact, it was Allstar Goldi who teamed with the Brantford-based reinsman to deliver win number 5,999 this past March at Flamboro and bring him within one step of the significant milestone, which he achieved later in the card with Run Like Hill.
Allstar Goldi’s knack for making memories has been equally meaningful to Watson.
“There were a couple nights at Grand River where she won in [1]:56 and was pretty dominant, winning by three or four lengths, which was really nice,” Watson said. “Most recently, we were in the Harness the Hope at London [Western Fair], and it was Anne-Marie Turenne who drove her. That was a special win. Anne-Marie said she was just a sweetheart and did it all on her own.”
The Muscle Up The Goal mare has taken Watson, who finds himself on the verge of several career watermarks — including wins, seconds, thirds, and earnings — on a course he’s grateful to follow each day.
“She’s been such a consistent horse throughout her two and a half years of racing,” he said. “There were a couple little blips here and there, but she’s always been reliable and in the mix.”
Matching consistency in performance — 17 wins, 16 seconds, and 12 thirds for nearly $122,000 through 79 starts — with consistency of character, Allstar Goldi has proven herself MVP-worthy.
“Every day is nice because she’s such a sweetheart,” Watson said. “Her and Peter Crown go out in the paddock together and they’re just completely in love with each other; they have to be out there together. There’s just no other way.
“Having those two — Peter Crown, he’s done fairly well racing on the B tracks, and then picking up Goldi to give that little extra oomph to maybe get another one — I just enjoy it so much. I love being around the horses, they’re amazing animals.”
