Educational Experience On and Off the Track: Shen Grad Heads to University of Louisville’s Equine Management Program After 3 Years With Dale Romans

A lot of teenagers and young adults have summer jobs, which includes those at Saratoga Race Course.

While some of these jobs include concession stands, cleaning, and even a possible internship that provides some experience, Noah Goodson’s summer job has educated him in being a future horseman or something in a related field.

Over the last three years, the recent Shenendehowa graduate has been working for trainer Dale Romans by handling a variety of tasks around the barn, which is in the background of the half-mile pole on the main track. While Goodson has worked with horses, some of his friends have been handling junk removal or doing other mainstream summer jobs.

“I hot walk and groom the horses. I do a little bit of everything,” Goodson said as he was removing the dirt around the hooves of Rockies Balboa, an unraced 2 year old. “My friends think it’s cool that I work with horses.”

That was one of Goodson’s last tasks for Romans before he left for the University of Louisville last weekend to start studying in the Equine Industry Program, which starts on Aug. 18. He believes Louisville is the ideal school to prepare him in perhaps becoming a trainer or something related to the business aspect of horse racing.

“My goal is to be a trainer,” he said. “Though, to be in this industry, you need to know how to run a business. You can do all the internships that you want, but nothing’s going to really help with the business part of it, especially financially.”

It is seldom that teenagers and young adults remember their first day on a job. However, Goodson still remembered the first time he worked for Romans: July 18, 2023 at 8 a.m. Since then, that starting time has shifted.

Goodson was typically out of bed by 4 a.m., then left his home from Exit 11 to arrive at the barn by 5 a.m. and worked until 10 a.m. or when training was finished. He came back to the barn around 3:30 p.m. for about two hours to finish any remaining tasks.

The early morning hours and sometimes longer days never bothered Goodson, especially since he enjoys working with horses and being at the track. Not only that, he used his strong work ethic to balance his schedule between helping Romans and going to football practice when he played for Shenendehowa.

“It didn’t come easy and it was a little stressful,” Goodson said. “It was basically day-to-day and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen the next day. So, I just went out there 100% of the time.”

Goodson’s passion for horses and races started when his parents, Chris Goodson and Andrea Gallo, brought him to the track as a baby. From there, he kept going to the track with his father.

“I was in a stroller when I first came out here,” he said. “I just grew up in the industry and came up here with my dad. We went to the clubhouse. We would be just sitting there and watching the horses, and then I just grew in love with the sport.”

The turning point for Goodson may have come when his father met Romans at the family-owned James and Sons Tobacconist shop in downtown Saratoga Springs. Along with sharing their affinity for cigars, both Romans and Chris Goodson also talked about horse racing, which became part of a friendship and a pathway for Noah Goodson in getting a job at the track.

At 12, Noah Goodson finally got to meet Romans, as well as West Point Thoroughbreds President and CEO Terry Finley. Romans then encouraged Goodson to work for him when he turned 16.

As soon as he turned 16, Goodson came to Roman’s barn and started working with his first horse: Coppola, a now 6-year-old horse who has won several black type stakes races in Florida and Indiana.

Goodson admitted that working with horses didn’t come naturally despite having a little experience through riding lessons when he was in eighth grade. With the help of Romans and groom William Parada, Goodson quickly learned how to apply ice wraps, provide feed to the horses in the mornings and afternoons, and clean the stalls.

“When I first got here, I was green,” he said. “I had a little experience on how to work with horses. It took me probably a week to get the handle of it. Willie has been great help for the past three years. I have learned a lot. I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did without him.”

Romans, who has won 3-of-5 races going into the sixth week of the meet, has also noticed Goodson’s progression in working with other horses that include recent maiden winner Gallo de Fuego and stakes-placing Maui Strong.

“When he started, he couldn’t walk a horse,” Romans said. “It’s just giving him the experience. He’s come a long way and can handle anything. He took his first horse to the paddock for a race [this meet] and it won.”

That winning horse led by Goodson was Bobrovsky, a 2-year-old colt co-owned by Romans with Steve Berg and entered in Saturday’s Skidmore Stakes. Goodson has become fond of Bobrovsky, who won by 10½ lengths in the maiden race on July 24. “He’s just so sweet and strong, just like me,” Goodson said. “I can kind of see myself in him.”

Even though Goodson is now bound for Louisville, that does not mean his job with Romans has ended. In fact, Romans is planning for Goodson to work for him at his Churchill Downs base, which is about two miles from the university.

“I will miss him, but he will be back down there [at Churchill]. It’s part of his education,” Romans said. “His classes are first. I’m going to be checking his grades. So, if the grades are good, he can keep coming to the barn.”

In his near-four-decade career, Romans recognizes the characteristics of trusted stable hands, especially those who have helped him with horses Roses in May, Kitten’s Joy, Little Mike, Shackleford, and Keen Ice, who beat American Pharoah, one of Goodson’s favorite horses. He believes Goodson has a future in working with horses based on those trusted characteristics.

“Noah will be good in whatever he decides to do,” Romans said “There are a lot of people who like the races. They think they like horses until they get into the barn, and they realize they just like racing. They are different things. He happens to be one of the kids who likes both.”